The State of Johor is divided into eight districts, of which one of them is the district of Johor Bahru.   Within the Johor Bahru District, it is further divided and managed by four different councils.  They are:

Of these four councils in the district, Majlis Bandaraya Johor Bahru (Johor Bahru City Council) manages the economic centre of the State of Johor: Johor Bahru City.  The City Council is one of the only three city councils or city halls on the Malaysian peninsular.

Majlis Daerah Johor Bahru Tengah (Central Johor Bahru Local Authority) manages the mainly residential and industrial outskirts of Johor Bahru metropolitan area.  Pihak Berkuasa Tempatan Pasir Gudang (Pasir Gudang Local Authority) manages a primarily industrial area to the east of Johor Bahru City.  This particular local authority is managed by a semi-government enterprise, Johor Corporation, which is a leading investment and development corporation in the State of Johor.  Majlis Daerah Kulai (Kulai Local Authority) manages an area which is dominantly estate plantations, although rapid urbanisation is taking place on regions nearest to Johor Bahru City.

Economically, the state's three south-bound districts, namely Johor Bahru, Pontian and Kota Tinggi are collectively known as the Johor Southern Economic Growth Corridor.  This growth corridor is currently the main urban and developing area of southern peninsular Malaysia.  This large area is envisaged as the metropolitan area of Johor Bahru in the near future.

The corridor is currently not managed by a single administrative agency but there is a planning secretariat under the State Government of Johor to oversee and plan for the corridor's traffic system and general usage of land.