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Johor, peninsular Malaysia’s southernmost state, is undergoing a series of dramatic state-driven transformations intended to expand its economy and attract investment. Johor’s strategic location opposite Singapore, Southeast Asia’s most powerful economy, and along one of the world’s busiest shipping corridors, provides some advantages that are currently being leveraged through Iskandar Malaysia, an ambitious and sprawling economic corridor intended to be to Singapore what Shenzhen is to Hong Kong. Prompted by falling commodity prices, which sparked a drive to industrialize, and more recently to develop the service sector, Iskandar Malaysia is one of five large-scale economic corridors around the country intended to catalyze growth. The scale of transformations are deep and far-reaching and visible throughout Johor in the form of new roads, construction sites, cleared land awaiting development and …