COMMENT | In 2014, then chief minister of Malacca, Idris Haron, introduced the Melaka Gateway project as "an environmentally friendly project that will have many green buildings and set to boost tourism as it will be in harmony with nature".

The Melaka Gateway is to be a 1,500-acre project consisting of 12 precincts. It would feature a deep seaport facility, tourist eco-parks, heritage walks and luxury residences.

The project would be built according to the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) environmental sustainability guidelines. Developers marketed it as "the most sustainable development to attract investment in Asia".

The Melaka Gateway was only one of the Malaysian urban megaprojects that are regularly branded as eco-friendly, green and sustainable. Despite the claims, the process of developing the area has often inflicted a high cost on the environment and surrounding communities.

Megaprojects and infrastructure, particularly centred on transport, have been a key feature in the administrations of Malaysia's strongmen. It is part of a global trend of "technologically and environmentally sound" urban development...