Skip to main content
Go to the home page of the European Commission (opens in new window)
English English
CORDIS - EU research results
CORDIS

Malaysian Reclaimed Landscapes: Urbanization, Heritage, and Sustainability along the Littoral

Project description

Land reclamation along the Malaysian coast

Land reclamation involves creating new land and artificial islands from the sea, often for large-scale construction projects. However, concerns have been raised about the environmental and socio-economic impacts on coastal communities. The EU-funded MaReLand project will investigate the competing discourses of sustainability and cultural heritage related to land reclamation along the Malaysian coast. The project will examine environmental activism and critiques of heritage hierarchies and study urbanisation at sea to enhance understanding of the right to the city/right to the sea. MaReLand will also investigate master plans and compensation policies for yet-to-be-built islands, generating empirical and theoretical knowledge on this topic.

Objective

MaReLand is an interdisciplinary project and ethnographic study of land reclamation along the Malaysian littoral. Reclamation is the act of creating new land and artificial islands from the sea. The approach that the state and developers are taking is reminiscent of neo-colonial and neoliberal conceptions of the mare nullius (‘nobody’s sea’), an empty space to be transformed by large-scale construction projects. Many are concerned about the socio-ecological effects for the environment and coastal communities. On the one hand, reclaimed landscapes are being planned for the development of high-tech fantasies of a luxurious lifestyle in a greener and smarter environment. On the other hand, such projects are intended to transform spaces that nevertheless represent enduring heritage such as fisheries, seascapes and biodiversity. Reclaimed landscapes thus emerge as contested spaces where what is not considered heritage becomes attractive for development. MaReLand explores the competing discourses of sustainability and cultural heritage held by a variety of actors. Situated at the intersection of urban anthropology and critical heritage studies, the project will examine two under-researched themes: a) environmental activism and the critique of heritage hierarchies, and b) the study of urbanization at sea. Through ethnographic research in two field sites, interviews and the organization of co-design activities with local stakeholders, the project seeks 1) to advance empirical knowledge on practices related to the right to the city/right to the sea, and the ways environmental activism and discourses on sustainability and heritage conservation unfold on the ground; 2) to advance theoretical knowledge on the masterplans and compensation policies at work around yet-to-be-built-islands; and 3) to develop a Toolkit that disseminates solutions to conflicts over land reclamation, by using ethnographic evidence to reshape policy-oriented practices in land reclamation.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.

You need to log in or register to use this function

Keywords

Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)

Programme(s)

Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.

Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships

See all projects funded under this funding scheme

Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2021-PF-01

See all projects funded under this call

Coordinator

UNIVERZITA PALACKEHO V OLOMOUCI
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 150 438,72
Address
KRIZKOVSKEHO 8
771 47 Olomouc
Czechia

See on map

Region
Česko Střední Morava Olomoucký kraj
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Links
Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

No data
My booklet 0 0