MaReLand

MaReLand is the acronym of the EU-funded project “Malaysian Reclaimed Landscapes: Urbanization, Heritage, and Sustainability along the Littoral” hosted by Palacký University Olomouc (Czech Republic). The acronym MaReLand itself challenges sharp divides such as land/sea, nature/society, or cultural/natural and tangible/intangible heritage. It ties together two words, commonly understood as distinct “worlds”: the Latin word for sea, mare, and the English word land. This acronym is even more relevant for Malaysia because it recalls the Malay compound tanah air, “land (and) water”, for homeland. Most societies in the world use land-biased words for homeland. The tanah air compound recalls a much more fluid history of interconnections, from the thalassocracies and cosmopolitan centers of the Malay archipelago to the contemporary legacies of this littoral society.

_{MaReLand Logo © Rossella De Giosa 2023}

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.

_{Drone photo of Silicon Island, a man-made islet under construction in George Town. Rimau Island
can be seen in the background; Wikimedia Commons user HundenvonPenang
(Link), 11
December 2023; image reproduced under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0
International.}

MaReLand explores the competing discourses of sustainability and heritage held by a variety of actors. Situated at the intersection of urban anthropology, critical heritage studies and marine/coastal research, the project explores environmental activism, critiques of heritage hierarchies, urbanisation at sea, and compensation policies for yet-to-be-built (is)lands to enhance understanding of the right to the sea.