CHAPTER 3 - Iskandar Malaysia

Section A Framework for 

Comprehensive Development 

Part 2 Development Strategies 

CHAPTER 3 

Physical Development Strategies

Physical Development Strategies 

chapter chapter 

3 

3.1 Introduction 

Figure 3.1 : SJER in the Johor context 

This chapter outlines the framework and strategies with regard to 

physical and spatial planning. In particular it covers the planning area 

of SJER, a brief review of current land use and development patterns 

and proceeds to outline ten specific physical development strategies 

including a proposed Special Economic Corridor and five Flagship 

Zones. This chapter is also related to the specific Physical Planning 

Initiatives covered in Part 3 of Section B, chapters 9 to 13 covering the 

Physical Development Plan, South Johor Urbanisation, Natural and 

Green Environment, the Coastal Zone and the Johor Bahru City Centre 

respectively. 

Perlis 

T H A I L A N D 

From a physical planning perspective, the South Johor Economic Region 

(SJER) is defined as a geographic area in the southern part of Johor that 

will benefit from the economic opportunities that will be promoted within 

the region. This would include spatial allocation of resources (such as 

human, man-made or natural resources), which will enhance (directly 

or indirectly) the social, environmental and economic growth of the 

area. The SJER will be planned and developed as Southern Peninsular 

Malaysia’s most developed region. This will be in line with the national 

aspiration to promote balanced regional development for national 

unity and to create an efficient, equitable and sustainable national 

spatial framework. 

Langkawi 

PULAU 

PINANG 

North 

0km 25 50 

KEDAH 

Straits of Melaka 

100km 

PERAK 

SELANGOR 

Source : SJER CDP 2025 

KELANTAN 

NEGERI 

SEMBILAN 

MELAKA 

PAHANG 

South China Sea 

TRENGGANU 

JOHOR 

SINGAPORE 

3.2 Planning Area 

The CDP has been prepared for the SJER area that covers 221,634.1 

hectares (2,216.3 sq. km) of land area within the southern most part of 

Johor. 

SJER covers the entire district of Johor Bahru (including the islands within 

the district), Mukim Jeram Batu, Mukim Sungai Karang, Mukim Serkat 

and Pulau Kukup in Mukim Ayer Masin, all within the district of Pontian. 

3 - 1

SECTION A 

FRAMEWORK FOR COMPREHENSIVE DEVELOPMENT 

The Planning Area is located in the most developed region of the south 

of Peninsular Malaysia or also known as the Johor Bahru Conurbation, 

a regional growth conurbation identified in the National Physical Plan, 

2005. The state capital Johor Bahru, is the nucleus for this southern 

growth conurbation. Built in 1855 by the late Sultan Abu Bakar, the city 

is the southern gateway to Peninsular Malaysia. Sultan Abu Bakar was 

descended from Temenggong Abdul Rahman, the local chief who 

signed the initial treaty with the British when they sought permission 

to lease Singapore island in 1819. Much of the prosperity Johor 

enjoys today can be traced directly to Sultan Abu Bakar’s success in 

persuading British and Chinese entrepreneurs to invest in agricultural 

estates in the area. Sultan Abu Bakar took a great interest in planning 

and laying out his royal city of Johor Bahru and today, Johor Bahru is 

the second largest city in the country after Kuala Lumpur. On 1 January 

1994, Johor Bahru was officially granted city status. 

Figure 3.2 : Five Local Planning Authorities 

PONTIAN 

KOTA TINGGI 

South Johor is situated on the Straits of Johor (also known as the Straits 

of Tebrau), which separates Malaysia and Singapore. Johor Bahru 

city occupies extensive coastal land consisting of ecologically rich 

swamplands and important river systems such as Sungai Johor, Sungai 

Pulai and Sungai Tebrau. The South Johor area is also an important 

industrial, logistical and commercial centre. Its major industries include 

electronics, resource and petrochemical refinery and ship building. 

3.3 Planning Jurisdiction 

The Planning Area falls under the jurisdiction of five local planning 

authorities, namely: 

■ Majlis Bandaraya Johor Bahru (Johor Bahru City Council) 

■ Majlis Perbandaran Johor Bahru Tengah (Johor Bahru Tengah 

Municipal Council) 

■ Pihak Berkuasa Tempatan Pasir Gudang (Pasir Gudang Local 

Authority) 


MAJLIS DAERAH KULAI 

MAJLIS PERBANDARAN 

JOHOR BAHRU TENGAH 

MAJLIS DAERAH PONTIAN 

MAJLIS BANDARAYA JOHOR BAHRU 

PIHAK BERKUASA TEMPATAN PASIR GUDANG 

3.4 Urbanisation and Current Employment Centres 

Johor Bahru urbanisation rate is 69.1%, which is higher than the average 

national urbanisation rate of 65.4% (National Physical Plan, 2005). This 

urbanisation rate can be related to the economic development of the 

SJER as the area of concentration for investment and employment. 

This is reflected by SJER’s estimated GDP of USD20 billion, which is 

60% of Johor’s GDP. SJER is also where 70% of Johor’s manufacturing 

establishments (4,266 establishments) are located. 

Johor Bahru City, Pasir Gudang, Tanjung Langsat as well the Senai-Kulai 

areas are the main centres of employment, especially for services and 

manufacturing activities. 

■ Majlis Perbandaran Kulai (Kulai Municipal Council) 

■ Majlis Daerah Pontian (Pontian District Council) 

3 - 2

PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES CHAPTER 3 | PART 1 

Table 3.1: Current Major Economic Centres and Land Use Activities 

Employment Centre Economic Activity Activities 

Johor Bahru City Services Plastics, Electrical and 

Electronics (E&E), Food 

processing 

Manufacturing Commerce, Finance, 

Meeting/Incentives 

/Conference/ 

Exhibition (MICE), 

Retail trade, Hospitality & 

Entertainment, 

Arts & Culture 

Pasir Gudang Manufacturing E&E, Chemical, Oleo- 

Chemical, Chemical- 

Biofuels, Engineeringbased 

industries, Food 

Products 

Services 

Port-related services 

Tanjung Langsat Manufacturing Chemical, Oleo- 

Chemical, Plastics, 

Research & 

Development, 

Engineering-based 

industries 

Senai-Kulai Manufacturing E&E, High-value Food 

processing and Agrobased 

processing, 

Biotech, Aviation-related 

downstream industries, 

Engineering-based 

industries 

represents 84.65% of the total SJER landbank or 173,512.57 hectares of 

land. 

Agricultural land constitutes the current main use in SJER covering an 

area of 119,302.06 hectares or 58.2%. Vacant land/shrubs account 

for the second largest land area of 17,381.85 hectares or 8.48%. As for 

developed land use, it covers an area of 31,461.63 hectares (15.35%) of 

which residential usage covers 9,724.85 hectares (4.74%), followed by 

institution/community facilities at 3,626.56 hectares (1.77%) and industrial 

usage with an area of 4,046.79 hectares (1.97%). Commercial usage 

covers only 1,213.23 hectares (0.59%) of the total SJER land area. 

One of the key issues in the development of SJER is balancing growth 

and in development with the protection of nature and the environment. 

The encroachment into such areas needs to be controlled and 

managed in a more sustainable manner especially for developments 

within the water catchments areas. 

Development must capitalise upon the existing infrastructure available 

within SJER, for example the second link highways and infrastructure 

available within its corridor. Prioritisation of development must also 

be undertaken and the opening of new frontiers must be limited 

to Urbanisation Promotion Areas to protect agriculture land that is 

categorised as Urbanisation Control Areas. 

Services 

Airport-related services, 

Education 

Source: Economics and Social Aspect Report, SJER 2006 

3.5 Current Development Distribution and Existing Land 

Uses 

The development distribution in SJER currently is imbalanced with 

development focused in main urban centres and along major roads 

and highways. Developments are also focussed in areas with major 

industrial activities and these are mainly in the Pasir Gudang, Plentong 

and Mount Austin areas. The developed areas within SJER are only 

15.35% of the total area or 31,461.63 hectares of land. The developed 

areas comprise of residential, commercial, industrial, institution/ 

community facilities, infrastructure and utilities. The undeveloped area 

3 - 3

SECTION A 


Figure 3.3 : Urbanisation - Promotion and Control Areas 

Table 3.2 : Existing Land Use in SJER 

BUKIT HANTU 

FR 

SEDENAK 

GUNUNG 

PULAI FR 

SEDENAK 

FR 

PEKAN 

NENAS 

RAMSAR 

KULAI 

SENAI 

SKUDAI 

KANGKAR 

PULAI 

NUSAJAYA 

TG. PELEPAS 

PLENTONG 

JOHOR 

BAHRU 

MASAI 

PASIR 

GUDANG 

TG. LANGSAT 

Land Use 

DEVELOPMENT AREA 

Hectares % 

Residential 

Villages 2,952.92 1.44 

Planned Housing Area 6,771.93 3.30 

Subtotal 9,724.85 4.74 

Commercial 1,213.23 0.59 

Subtotal 1,213.23 0.59 

Industrial 4,046.79 1.97 

Subtotal 4,046.79 1.97 

Institution/Public Amenities 

Public Amenities 78.18 0.04 

Government Use 266.83 0.13 

URBANIZ 

AGRICULT 

MANGROV 

FOREST 

DAM 

RIVER 

Religious Reserve 157.10 0.08 

Education Reserve 2,251.30 1.10 

URBANISATION CONTROL AREA 

URBANISATION PROMOTION AREA 

Security & Emergency Facilities 147.48 0.07 

AGRICULTURE PROTECTION ZONE 

MANGROVE 

FOREST 

DAM 

RIVER 

INFILL DEVELOPMENT 

SECONDARY PROMOTION AREA 

PRIMARY PROMOTION ZONE 

Health Facilities 354.91 0.17 

Cemeteries 370.76 0.18 

Subtotal 3,626.56 1.77 

Special Use 

Airport 249.33 0.12 


Army Camp 215.98 0.11 

Palace 389.46 0.19 

Port 971.80 0.47 

Subtotal 1,826.57 0.89 

Infrastructure & Utility 1,294.03 0.63 

Subtotal 1,294.03 0.63 

Road/Transport 

Highway/Road/Rail Reserves 9,385.29 4.58 

Parking 344.31 0.17 

Subtotal 9,729.60 4.75 

TOTAL 31,461.63 15.35 

NON DEVELOPMENT AREA 

Agriculture 119,302.09 58.20 

Forest 6.926.63 3.38 

Mangrove 13,449.49 6.56 

Open Space/Recreation 4,051.30 1.98 

Pond/River/Drain 12,401.21 6.05 

Vacant Land 17,381.85 8.48 

Total 173,512.57 84.65 

GRAND TOTAL AREA 204,974.20 100.00 

Sea 16,659.90 

GRAND TOTAL IN SJER AREA 221,634.10 

Source : Johor Bahru District Draft Local Plan, Pontian District Draft Local Plan 

3 - 4


Figure 3.4: Existing Land Use Distribution Plan 

Villages 

Planned House 

Commercial 

Industry 

Community Hall 

Government Use 

Religious Reserve 

Education Reserve 

Security & Emergency Facilities 

Health Facilities 

Cemeteries 

Airport 

Army Camp 

Palace 

Port 

Infrastructure & Utility 

Highway/Road/Rail Reserved 

Parking 

Sea 

Port 

Infrastructure & Utility 

Mangrove Forest 

RAMSAR Zone 

River/Pond 

Agriculture 

Source : Johor Bahru District Draft Local Plan, Pontian District Draft Local Plan 

3 - 5

SECTION A 


3.6 Designing the Physical Development Plan 

From a physical planning standpoint, the CDP is a developmental road 

map for the next 20 years that is aimed at guiding decision makers, city 

planners, designers and builders in making decisions consistent with 

the overall plan. The CDP provides a strategic framework of visions, 

principles, development strategies, goals and key directions for a region 

that is liveable for its people, in which they can carry out daily activities 

with pleasure, pride, and harmony. 

A physical development interpretation of the SJER vision of a ‘strong, 

sustainable conurbation of international standing’ is read as a 

commitment ‘To create a sustainable conurbation which has taken 

into consideration the needs of all its stakeholders and subsequently 

enhance the quality of its community’s life without compromising the 

ecology of the environment. It also commits to creating a liveable and 

attractive environment for residents, businesses and visitors.’ 

3.7 Core Physical Development Design Principles 

natural resources that provides the foundation of high living 

standards. Clean water, clean air and protected natural resources 

must be its abiding goals. 

• Culture and Diversity - SJER should build on the strong cultural 

environment, taking into considerations the diverse arts, 

humanities and culture of its communities. 

• Partnership - SJER must be developed with clear collaborative 

effort and partnership between local government, nongovernment 

organisations, private sector and the community. 

With this clearly defined purpose, SJER’s primary vision and thrusts 

towards providing a better living standard for its population can be 

achieved. The CDP will balance these needs against the economic 

growth, environmental quality, social and community development that 

will develop SJER into a world-class conurbation. 

Figure 3.5: Sustainable Development Integrating Three Main 

Elements 

Liveability and Sustainability is the core essence of the framework and 

thrust of the plan. A number of principles have been defined for SJER, 

and they are: 

• Equity – SJER is committed in providing equal opportunity to all 

its local population and stakeholders to share in its liveability 

from such aspects as the economic growth, adequate housing, 

environmental protection, efficient mobility, public safety, public 

health and recreation. 

• Quality of Life – SJER’s definition of the Quality of Life for the 

community is that the community must be economically healthy 

and has a broad mix of employment opportunities. 

• Safety and Comfort – SJER must emphasise on a quality built 

environment where developments are build to human scale 

and are of high aesthetic standards to increase the standard of 

living. This means that in the design of its built environment such 

as buildings, streets, parks and neighbourhoods, priorities must be 

given to safety, comfort and quality of life. 

• Protect and Manage Natural Environment - SJER must manage 

its natural environment and be highly sensitive in protecting the 

Source: SJER CDP 2025 

Economic 

Development 

Community & Social 

Development 

Environmental 

Protection 

The CDP is also prepared in the anticipation of changes, to ensure 

manageable growth, thus providing a sustainable pattern of 

development and positive quality of life for SJER residents. 

3.8 SJER Physical Development Strategies 

The CDP will be guided by physical development strategies to ensure 

outcomes that reflects the vision and core principles outlined. These 

Physical Development Strategies (PDS) will be based on the potential 

of the area as well as the challenges faced by SJER in becoming a 

3 - 6


world class sustainable conurbation. These strategies will ensure that the 

required flexibility, to cater to the growing needs of the community, is 

not neglected. 

There are ten key PDS identified and these strategies will complement 

the Strategic Economic Thrusts (SET), identified in Chapter 4, the 

Strategic Social Development Thrusts (SSDT) in Chapter 5 and the 

Regional Environmental Assessment prepared for the area. 

PDS 1 – Ensure a balanced development within the SJER by reaffirming 

distribution and enhancing efficiency through focused development in 

certain corridors and nodes 

This strategy focuses on creating balanced growth within SJER which 

includes redistributing development along established corridors 

and capitalise development in areas with established development 

infrastructure. 

The development corridor of Nusajaya-Johor Bahru-Pasir Gudang will 

be fully targeted. The corridor houses two established ports, Tanjung 

Pelepas and Pasir Gudang, as well as a new state administrative centre, 

Nusajaya, and the established commercial and retail centre, Johor 

Bahru. 

Furthermore, the two main links to Singapore, the Causeway and the 

Second Link, provides great advantages to this corridor. This is further 

enhanced by the extension of the Senai Airport runway, in line with the 

upgrading of Senai Airport, which is to become part of the integrated 

logistic hub for the southern region. 

PDS 2 – Protect and conserve natural, historic and open space resources 

to improve the quality of life 

This development strategy is critical to SJER as the need to establish a 

green network or system of open space is vital to its habitat protection 

and bio-diversity which, in the long term, not only enhances the quality 

of life but also the sustainability of SJER. 

This development strategy will ensure that the natural forest reserve, 

mangrove, animal sanctuary and water catchment areas are 

protected and gazetted. In addition, given the relative abundance of 

land resource, this strategy will also serve to accentuate SJER’s natural 

endowment as a source of competitive advantage. 

Figure 3.7: PDS 2 – Protect and Conserve 

Figure 3.6: PDS 1 – Balanced Development within SJER 



3 - 7

SECTION A 


PDS 3 – Focus development in areas where existing and adequate 

infrastructure exists, build further enabling infrastructure 

Development should initially focus in areas where ready resources and 

infrastructure are available and adequate. Thus, it is important to review 

the planned growth areas in terms of the infrastructure and services 

that exist such as roads, sewers, power and water. Concurrently, this 

would cultivate the growth management strategy that will affect the 

development phasing and coordination of infrastructure investments. 

This development strategy will strengthen existing and emerging 

economic clusters identified in Chapter 4 of this plan and subsequently 

enhance the efficiency and productivity as well as the supply and 

knowledge chains. 

Concurrently development will also look into building new enabling 

infrastructure, including key catalyst infrastructure development such as 

the Coastal Highway that has been identified under the Ninth Malaysia 

Plan. 

Figure 3.8: PDS 3 – Focus on Existing Urban Areas 

PDS 4 – Promote in-fill and redevelopment in existing communities, 

including brownfield sites 

Establishing a targeted growth area will assist the cause of protecting 

undeveloped land resources and thus identifies existing areas for 

redevelopment. Managing these resources efficiently and establishing 

a sustainable future land use plan means that the development within 

existing urban areas must be encouraged and promoted especially 

within urban areas such as Johor Bahru. Incentives are proposed for 

brownfield development involving redevelopment of existing properties, 

restoration of old buildings and in-fill development of vacant sites with 

good potential for development. 

PDS 5 – Enhance accessibility by improving Regional and East-West 

linkages as well as provide alternative modes of public transportation 

This strategy is important to create sustainable economic growth in 

the southern region. The regional linkage between the Kuala Lumpur 

conurbation and Johor Bahru conurbation and eventually Singapore 

will enhance mobility within the regions and spur economic growth for 

the area. 

Linkages between the east and west of the development corridor are 

also important with alternative modes of public transportation such as 

rail, road and water based linkages is enhanced to provide greater 

access. 

Figure 3.9: PDS 5 – Enhance Regional and Local Access 


SINGAPORE 

 

 

3 - 8 

Source: SJER CDP 2025


PDS 6 - Promote key economic initiatives that will become focal points 

for growth within the region 

The need to create new development catalysts within the region is 

critical. Such development catalysts should focus on new economic 

initiatives as well as enhancing existing initiatives. 

New economic initiatives can spur the corridor into a quantum leap 

thus benefiting the region. Creative industry initiatives as well as an MSC 

Cyber city are among the new initiatives that could provide growth 

catalyst for the area, while an education and healthcare hub and the 

new state administrative centre in Nusajaya will further spur growth. 

Figure 3.10: PDS 6 – Key Economic Initiatives as Focal Points for Growth 

PDS 8 – Manage Regional Growth Especially in the Periphery Areas of 

SJER 

SJER shall manage the growth of its periphery areas as well as ensuring 

plans for areas outside SJER complements developments within SJER. 

Agriculture areas will set the urban limits for SJER. Further developments 

within existing urban area will make it more compact and subsequently 

enhances established areas. Concentrating compact settlements in 

the periphery areas will assist in striving to achieve sustainability while 

protecting the agriculture-promoted areas, a primary product of the 

periphery areas, and valued environmental areas. Accessibility to these 

areas is important to the mobility of people and transportation of goods 

and also for future expansions of urban communities. 

PDS 9 – Plan for innovative and sustainable infrastructure and utilities 

SENAI-SKUDAI 

LOGISTICS HUB 

SJER shall demonstrate the use of innovative and sustainable 

infrastructure and utilities in its area especially as pressures on energy 

and resource utilisation increases with the anticipated increase in 

economic activity. The need to reduce, reuse and recycle is among the 

key fundamentals to managing demand for infrastructure and utilities. 

 

 

 

 

 

SINGAPORE 

PASIR GUDANG 

OLEOCHEMICAL 

INDUSTRY 

SJER encourages efficient use of energy and alternative energy that 

leads to substantial savings over the life-time of the development. It 

shall also encourage integrated water management as part of an 

integrated cycle. 


PDS 7 – Plan and develop SJER as one integrated global node consisting 

of Johor, Singapore and Indonesia 

Developing SJER as one integrated global node with Singapore and 

Indonesia, in particular with the islands of Batam and Bintan, is important 

in strengthening SJER’s international linkages as well as attaining a 

critical mass for the region. With this global node having a population of 

more than 8 million today and a projected population of more than 10 

million in 2025, SJER should position itself to support this growth. 

PDS 10 – Promote Planned Communities that will produce quality 

neighbourhoods 

A key aspiration for SJER is to develop model neighbourhoods and 

planned communities that will produce high quality neighbourhoods 

with high liveability factors. In this regard, elements and features in 

design, build quality and use of materials that promote safety and 

security, social integration and community development will be 

consciously pursued. 

3 - 9

SECTION A 


Figure 3.11: PDS 10- Planned Community Module 

■ Optimise Spatial Distribution of Economic Activities – To enhance 

efficiency and regional balance by focusing development on the 

SEC and the northern node, which is the Senai-Kulai area (in the 

vicinity of the Senai Airport). 

■ Strengthen International Linkages – To create dynamism and 

value-added in the economy of SJER within the regional 

agglomeration Singapore-Johor-Riau (SIJORI). International 

linkages will enhance market access thus benefiting SJER in terms 

of technology and innovations. 

■ Build on Existing Strength in Respect of Resource Endowment and 

Lever on Singapore’s Strength. 

■ Adopt the Cluster Approach – To be adopted where industries 

of interrelated activities are geographically clustered together. 

Such clusters need to be encouraged and to include downstream 

activities, producers of complementary products, specialised 

infrastructure providers, institutions providing specialised training 

and technical support etc. 

■ Provide the Right Types of Incentives and Support. 


3.9 SJER Strategic Economic Thrusts (SET) 

The physical development strategies identified above is in line with 

achieving the SETs that have been identified to accelerate the growth 

of SJER during the planning period of the CDP. This includes: 

■ Strenghten Existing Main Economic Drivers and Diversification – To 

further strengthen the current main economic drivers; the drivers 

are electrical and electronics, petrochemical and oleo-chemical, 

pond and agro processing, logistics and related services. The four 

additional drivers and pillars to economic growth are all servicebased, 

such as health and educational services, financial services, 

and creative industries. 

These SETs are important influencing factors in the physical development 

of SJER and will be translated into spatial strategies to accelerate 

development within the SJER area. New potential economic centres 

are to be identified while strong existing clusters will be enhanced and 

strengthened by encouraging value-added activities to be developed 

within these areas. Infrastructure development will be identified to 

cater for and link the expanded areas while new technological 

requirements are explored to cater for the new industries. The growth of 

SJER will be economically driven and thus generating employment and 

opportunities for new job creation. 

■ Strengthen Supporting Industries (mainly SMI) and Basic 

Foundation – To ensure that the main industries are able to 

develop without undue constraints. 

3 - 10


Figure 3.12: Economics Spatial Distribution by Major Growth 

Centres 

Area 

Economic Activities 

Pasir Gudang Area 

Tanjung Langsat Area 

E&E, Chemicals, Oleo Chemical, Food, 

Engineering, Other Industries, Port & 

Logistics, Warehousing 

Petrochemical, Other Chemical, Oleo 

Chemical, Bio-Diesel, R&D, Engineering 


3.10 The Physical Development Planning Concept 


Table 3.3 : Spatial Distribution of Economic Activities 

In line with the desired vision, the Physical Plan of the CDP will adopt an 

optimum land use development-planning concept that will translate 

the ten development strategies from PDS 1 to PDS 10. These strategies 

promote sustainability and economic growth that will balance between 

environmental conservation and protection as well as meeting the 

needs and demand for social development. 

Area 

Johor Bahru Area 

Nusajaya Area 

Port of Tanjung Pelepas 

Area 

Senai Area 

Economic Activities 

Plastic, E&E, Food Products, Financial 

Services, Commerce & Retail, Arts & 

Culture, Hospitality, Urban tourism 

MSC-Based, R&D, Creative & Multimedia, 

Industry, Software Development, 

Engineering & Emerging Technology, Biotechnology, 

Medicine & Health, Multimedia 

& Technical Education 

E&E, Petrochemical, Hi-tech 

Manufacturing, R&D, Food Products, 

Logistic Centre, Port Services, Warehousing, 

Entreport Trade, Regional HQs, Regional 

Procurement Centres 

E&E ,Food Products (High Value), Agro- 

Products, Other Industries Engineering 

Warehousing, Logistic, Airport Services 

The Physical Plan is then further developed by taking cognisance of 

the opportunities accorded and constraints of the SJER planning area. 

For example, natural elements such as forest, rivers, and mangrove 

and hill areas have been incorporated into the plan to become an 

important feature of the overall development. The land use planning 

concept is illustrated in the plan shown in Figure 3.15 which translates 

the aforementioned development strategies. 

3 - 11

SECTION A 


Figure 3.13: Development Planning Concept 

3.11 SJER Flagship Zones 

Five Flagship Zones are proposed as key focal points for developments 

in the SJER. Four of the focal points will be located in the Nusajaya- 

Johor Bahru-Pasir Gudang corridor also known as the Special Economic 

Corridor (SEC) 

The flagship zones listed below are envisaged to both strengthen further 

existing economic clusters as well as to diversify and develop targeted 

growth factors identified under SET 1: 

Flagship Zone A – Johor Bahru City Centre 

Flagship Zone B – Nusajaya 

Flagship Zone C – Western Gate Development 

Flagship Zone D – Eastern Gate Development 

Flagship Zone E – Senai-Skudai 

3 - 12


Figure 3.14: Flagship Zones in SJER 

Flagship Zone 

Key Functions and Activities 

Flagship Zone 

Key Functions and Activities 

A – Johor Bahru 

Service and business district 

D – Eastern Gate 

Pasir Gudang Port and industrial zone 

Free Access Zone 

Development 

Tanjung Langsat Technopolis 

B – Nusajaya 

Johor State Administrative Centre 

Kim-Kim Regional Park 

New financial and business district 

E – Senai-Skudai 

Senai International Airport 

MSC Cyber city and Nusajaya Cyber 

Integrated logistic hub 

park 

Skudai Knowledge Centre 

Education hub 

Senai Multimodal Terminal Hub 

C – Western Gate 

Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP) 

Development 

RAMSAR SItes 

2 nd Link Free Access Zone 


3 - 13

SECTION A 


3.12 The Special Economic Corridor (SEC) 

It is targeted that developments within SJER will initially focus on the 

medium term in the Nusajaya-Johor Bahru-Pasir Gudang corridor. The 

corridor is an established area of development with two major ports, 

Port of Tanjung Pelepas and Pasir Gudang, and a third oleo-chemical 

port at Tanjung Langsat. The area also has two major links to Singapore, 

the Causeway and the Second Link in Nusajaya. 

With many of the economic drivers already present, the Nusajaya-Johor 

Bahru-Pasir Gudang corridor will be the main and premier zone for 

development and investment. The existing growth nodes will spearhead 

regional growth and will be enhanced to entice and attract both 

local and foreign investors. New initiatives that will also attract other 

economic drivers to this region such as ICT, multimedia and research, 

health, education, financial services and creative industry will also be 

centred in this zone. 

Many of the new catalyst developments are expected to be in the 

relatively new and greenfield area of Nusajaya. Located next to Port 

of Tanjung Pelepas and in the vicinity of the Second Link, Nusajaya also 

houses the new state administrative centre and has been identified 

as an area to house several targeted new growth sectors including in 

education, healthcare and tourism, among others. 

The SEC is envisaged to house most of the leading-edge developments 

in SJER including proposed Free Access Zones that will have a relatively 

large international component. 

Existing industrial clusters are found mainly within the existing growth 

nodes of this corridor. The main economic activities found here are 

manufacturing, electrical and electronics, chemicals and chemical 

products, food products and the service industry (mainly logistics and 

tourism). 

Figure 3.15: The Special Economic Corridor 

JB CITY 

CENTER 

NUSAJAYA 

ADMINISTRATIVE CENTRE 

MSC CYBER CITY 

JOHOR BAHRU CITY CENTRE 

CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT 

PASIR GUDANG 

OLEOCHEMICAL INDUSTRY 

NUSAJAYA 

JOHOR BAHRU 

CITY CENTRE 

PASIR 

GUDANG 


3 - 14

CHAPTER 3 - Iskandar Malaysia

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