The interurban migration industry: ‘Migration products’ and the materialisation of urban speculation at Iskandar Malaysia

Sin Yee Koh

Urban Studies, 2022, vol. 59, issue 11, 2199-2216

Abstract: Iskandar Malaysia (IM) is a 4749 km 2 urban conurbation and development region located at the Malaysia–Singapore border. State-led development of this regional economic corridor has attracted inflows of foreign investments and spurred the rise of mid- to high-end urban developments by foreign developers. This has resulted in the emergence of an interurban migration industry consisting of intermediary entities that are co-developing and co-marketing ‘migration products’ (real estate, education and lifestyle migration) as an integrated package to middle-class, aspiring transnational investor/lifestyle migrants from the region. This article argues that this middlemen industry is crucial to the materialisation of urban speculation, for state actors and investor/lifestyle migrants alike. Through interurban alliances that capitalise on the broader state-led speculative urbanism landscape, the industry co-creates an imagined urban future that is grounded in transnational lifestyle mobilities. This article highlights the need to analyse speculative urbanism and transnational investment/lifestyle migration as intertwined processes.

Keywords: investment/lifestyle migrants; Iskandar Malaysia; real estate–education–migration nexus; speculative urbanism; transnational intermediaries; urban middlemen economy; 投资/ç”Ÿæ´»æ–¹å¼ ç§»æ°‘; é©¬æ ¥è¥¿äºšä¼Šæ–¯å Žè¾¾; 房地产-教育-移民关系; 投机性城市化; 跨国中介; åŸŽå¸‚ä¸­é—´å•†ç» æµŽ (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:59:y:2022:i:11:p:2199-2216

DOI: 10.1177/0042098021992219

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