My research article, which is an sophistication of my Master’s thesis, Craving gains and claiming “green” by cutting greens? An exploratory analysis of greenfield housing developments in Iskandar Malaysia, has been published online in Journal of Urban Affairs (See Online). The article analyzes a potential occurrence of green washing in sustainable, environmental-friendly, or green urban development projects. The article analyzes Nusajaya development that is a part of Iskandar Malaysia, a massive and ambitious urban development project happening in Johor Bahru city in Malaysia. Here is the abstract of the article:
Housing developments constructed in Nusajaya for the Iskandar Malaysia (IM) project, a massive green urban project in Malaysia, are analyzed here as an example of urban greenwashing. To empirically study this argument, this study uses a combination of quantitative techniques: semi-content analysis, remote sensing, and geographical information systems. Empirical findings from the analysis suggest that greenfield housing developments (GHDs) in Nusajaya benefit from relatively higher sale prices when they employ deceptive green claims. In addition, the empirical study observes that GHDs with deceptive green claims show higher levels of vegetation loss on their construction sites. Green GHDs in Nusajaya deserve critical scholarly attention to elaborate the “craving gains and claiming ‘green’ by cutting greens” relationship that today’s large-scale green urbanization potentially entails. Such critical studies about green discourses in urban projects contribute to the development of genuinely sustainable urban societies.
Overall, I am an advocate of green urban development (agenda). However, because of this very advocacy of green urbanization agenda, I should argue that potential (both intentional and unintentional) urban greenwashing should be critically investigated an regulated so that we can promote genuine green projects, and increase the trust in housing market.