There is very little information about these cities in the media, because this can worsen the situation in the housing market. But despite this, experts at Peking University were able to draw up a map that depicts ghost towns. Nevertheless, we decided to consider seven huge ghost towns in more detail.

Some time ago John Maynard Keynes- the famous economist suggested digging holes and filling them up again - as a cure for the economic downturn.

Chinese government decided to take this advice and develop it to perfection. Thus, ghost towns began to appear throughout the Middle Kingdom, this helps the people of China solve a series of problems: unemployment fell to 4-5% also every year many millions of peasants move to ready-made cities, constantly replenishment of the local budget due to apartment sales.

But the Chinese sages did not take into account the speed of the emergence of new cities. In the created cities, they do not have time to populate the inhabitants and the cities are empty, which evokes thoughts of ghostly castles.

With the advent of the financial crisis, the situation with China's ghost towns worsened as the country began producing cement in huge quantities. This process could not be stopped and therefore the state decided to continue building cities.

Yingkou

Liaoning Province is dependent on mining. Therefore, it was decided to rebuild the economy, as this was supposed to change the situation: the Chinese government sent finance to new industries, and construction companies quickly began to build housing for employees. The city was built very quickly, but it has no inhabitants still.

New Hebi

Hebi is the capital of Henan Province. This city existed thanks to coal mines. But after some time, a new deposit was discovered near Hebi. This prompted the city authorities to create another industrial zone - "New Hebi". For twenty years, no one has mastered the new territory.

thames town

In this town it was decided to reproduce British outback. The city was designed by an American architect Tony Mackay. Real estate was bought up by wealthy people - as a worthy investment. Due to the fact that real estate prices in this town have risen sharply, it scared ordinary people, and on this moment Thames Town is a place visited by tourists.

Tianducheng

This city was built in Zhejiang province. This town can also be called little Paris. But unfortunately, there are no residents in this city either, despite the fact that a copy of the Eiffel Tower looks almost real.

chengun

Chenggong city was built because of the huge number of students. It was planned to build huge high-rise buildings for hundreds of thousands of residential apartments. Local residents bought up the bulk of the housing as investments, but no one began to live here.

Caofeidian

Caofeidian was to become the first ultra-green city. It was built several hundred kilometers from Beijing. The plan was to use only renewable energy in this city. The goal of the people living in this city is to show how good an environmentally friendly life is. In spite of 90 billion invested in the construction of the city, it is still empty.

Ordos

Ordos is a major center of the Autonomous Republic of Inner Mongolia. The Chinese government decided to expand the city, placing a new district, Kanbashi, nearby. It was expected that about a million people would live in the new district, but at the moment the population of the district is only twenty thousand.

An ear on the patient's hand - in order to then transplant the organ where it should be.

Cities for the future

French photographer Raphael Olivier has returned from China's largest ghost town, Kanbashi. And he brought with him disturbing and hypnotic photographs of a sterile, modern, but deserted million-plus city.

Photo by Raphael Olivier from the Failed Utopia series

For the first time, information about the mass construction of such cities appeared in the press in 2010. The Chinese authorities do not give the exact number, but according to various estimates, they are from 20 to 50. In search of "ghosts", enthusiasts examine satellite images, Google Earth photos, Internet activity on the Chinese search engine Baidu and reports on electricity consumption.

One could only speculate about the reasons for and the impressive pace of mass development that began about ten years ago. Among fans of conspiracies, there is an opinion that China is preparing for the Third World War, and empty cities are needed in order to settle there the remaining inhabitants from bombed-out megacities. No less popular versions: China, in anticipation of the collapse of the United States, is creating housing for a multi-million diaspora in the States - or is preparing for mass migration from regions that are threatened.

Whatever real reasons, the construction of new cities fuels the fire of Chinese urbanization and stimulates economic growth. In 2014, China published a report with a plan for new cities of about 250 million inhabitants (!) Until 2026.

Please note that the grandiose construction began at the dawn of the Chinese miracle - the technological and economic breakthrough of the Celestial Empire, when the country turned from a cheap copy machine into a technology creator. These cities were built in dreams of change. Add to this a fantastic medley of architectural styles, fakes that are in no way inferior to the originals, and incredible budgets that have gone into the void of these streets - and you get Chinese ghost towns.

Cities whose future is unknown, and the past simply does not exist.

“Being in a metropolis, you can easily tell its approximate age based on architectural styles, landscape conditions and other details,” says American photographer Kai Kaemmerer, who also returned from China with a “ghostly” photo series. “But the Chinese cities built in the last five or six years are completely devoid of these clues.”

Photo by Kai Kaemmerer from The Unborn Cities series

The words we deserve

Previously, Collins British Dictionary also chose the leaders of 2016. The word “brexit” topped the list, with 3,400% more usage than the previous year. Plus: "trumpism" (meaning Trump's glib polemic), "hugge" again, and "uberization" (derived from Uber; implies a business model based on mobile technology and the elimination of intermediaries).

tumbleweed garden

In the meantime, we dream about flying cars and, students of the London Barletta School of Architecture William Victor Camilleri and Danilo Sampaio are trying to rethink the role of plants in the conditions of the city. This is how the Hortum Machina B robotic garden project was born.

The creators call the garden " nervous system plants." In the center of the sphere are twelve modules attached to cables. The design is equipped solar panels, reservoirs with water and sensors that monitor the condition of plants - their reaction to light and moisture. If the performance deteriorates, the system moves the modules, the center of gravity shifts, and the ball goes unaided in search of a new habitat.

“In the near future, we will live surrounded by unmanned electric vehicles, aircraft and many other robotic forms. Among them, there will certainly be a place for the Hortum Machina B cyber-gardener.”

The shell of Hortum Machina B is built from aluminum tubes on the principle of a geodesic dome. In architecture, this structure of simple triangles was first used by an American engineer.

Endless blocks of high-rise buildings in which no one has ever lived, abandoned amusement parks, empty giant shopping malls, deserted avant-garde theaters and museums, wide avenues without cars - over the past decade, several new cities and areas have appeared in China at once, where, it seems , no human foot has set foot. We tried to understand the phenomenon of Chinese "ghost towns" and understand why they exist.

In the Google Earth photo, huge empty cities are connected by a network of empty roads. Some cities are built in some of the harshest weather areas in China (Sishuan is built in the middle of a desert in Inner Mongolia)!

What's this? The strategic mistake of the country's authorities, who inflated a grandiose "bubble" in the real estate market, or calculated for several years in advance, known only to China, are secret plans.

It all looks like a giant film set for a science fiction film in which a neutron bomb explosion or a virus completely destroyed people! but skyscrapers, stadiums, parks and roads remained completely untouched.

Since 2000, China has been building more than 20 new modern cities, but they remain uninhabited! Today it is more than 64 million empty houses (not apartments)!

In 2010, the Chinese media reported that the State Electricity Grid of the People's Republic of China monitored electricity consumption in 660 cities for six months, and found zero readings on the electricity meters of 65.4 million apartments - that means no one lives here!

These apartments are enough to accommodate more than 200 million people.

Every year China is increasing its military budget, now it is equal to 78 billion dollars, and "the hidden part of it can be another 30-40 percent of this amount." The army and navy of the People's Republic of China are equipped with the most modern weapons.

Under all these cities, underground shelters have been built, designed to receive hundreds of millions of people. Beijing is letting the world know that it is fully prepared for a nuclear war. Underground shelters are known to be the most effective protection against nuclear explosions and their damaging factors (shock wave, penetrating radiation, light radiation, radioactive contamination).

Endless blocks of high-rise buildings in which no one has ever lived, abandoned amusement parks in which no one has fun, empty giant shopping malls where nothing has ever been bought, deserted avant-garde theaters and museums in which there were no spectators, wide avenues along which no one cars are driving.

In the Google Earth photo, huge EMPTY CITIES are connected by a network of EMPTY roads. Some cities are built in some of the harshest weather areas in China (Sishuan is built IN THE DESERT IN Inner Mongolia)!

What's this? The strategic mistake of the country's authorities, who inflated a grandiose bubble in the real estate market, or calculated for several years in advance, known only to China, secret plans.

It all looks like a gigantic film set for a science fiction film in which a neutron bomb explosion or a virus COMPLETELY DESTROYED PEOPLE! But skyscrapers, stadiums, parks and roads remained completely untouched.

Since 2000, China has been building more than 20 new modern cities EVERY YEAR, but they remain UNPOPULATED!

Today it is more than 64 million EMPTY HOUSES (not apartments)!

In 2010, the Chinese media reported that the State Electricity Network of the People's Republic of China monitored electricity consumption in 660 cities for six months, and found on the electricity meters of 65.4 million apartments. ZERO INDICATIONS means NO ONE LIVES HERE!

These apartments are enough to accommodate more than 200 million people.

Every year, China is increasing its military budget, now it is equal to 78 billion dollars, and its hidden part can be another 30-40 percent of this amount. The army and navy of the People's Republic of China are equipped with the most modern weapons.

In the direction of the borders of Russia, China has been building concrete-based broadband roads for several years, they can withstand the load of heavy military equipment,

According to military experts, when hostilities begin, the Chinese army will be in Khabarovsk in two to three hours.

The start of large-scale offensive operations along the entire land border and the landing of troops in the north of Russia will end in a complete, quick victory for China and the rejection of Russian territory to the Urals. After the entire territory up to the Urals is captured, the Russians will be deported beyond the Urals or destroyed. Winners are not judged, Alexander Aladdin prophesies.

The People's Liberation Army of China (PLA) has 2.25 million soldiers, in case of hostilities it can put under arms up to 208.1 million soldiers, well-armed and trained.

So what are empty cities for - this way Beijing frankly demonstrates that it is not afraid of nuclear war. Nuclear warheads are the only modern Russia weapons left over from the USSR, which somehow can deter China's aggression.

Under all these cities, underground shelters have been built, designed to receive hundreds of millions of people. Beijing is making it clear to both Moscow and Washington that it is fully prepared for a nuclear war. Underground shelters, as you know, are the most effective protection against nuclear explosions and their damaging factors (shock wave, penetrating radiation, light radiation, radioactive contamination).

Today, China is the only country that is seriously ready to fight any war, both conventional and nuclear, and we pretend that this does not concern us.

Interesting article?

Why in Chinese People's Republic large and well-thought-out settlements where no one lives?

From year to year, more and more new ghost towns appear on satellite images of the country, which consist of administrative and office buildings, sports stadiums, parks, residential skyscrapers, houses and towers, interconnected by deserted roads, on which only cars of builders and government officials drive. (esoreiter.ru).

You might think that here, as in Pripyat, radiation disasters occurred that forced the townspeople to leave their homes. But in fact, you can live here on a wave: there is all the necessary infrastructure, and residential buildings are modern and comfortable. Billions of dollars were spent on the design and construction of each such city. Although it is strange that many ghost towns are located in the most unfavorable regions of China, poorly developed by man and very far from large enterprises and trade routes.

Versions about the causes of the appearance of ghost towns in China

Chinese journalists report that about twenty ghost towns are currently being built in the PRC, and the number of unoccupied new houses is approaching seventy million. According to one theory, such settlements represent a kind of reserve fund for the population. Let's say the third World War. Shanghai, Beijing, Chongqing and others big cities will be at risk of bombardment, and then their inhabitants can be evacuated here. Ghost towns have bomb shelters for many thousands of people, and even a nuclear attack can survive in such safe shelters.

Another version says that the spontaneous construction of empty cities is an anti-crisis measure of the government. In much the same way, in the 1930s, Franklin Roosevelt led the United States out of the Great Depression. At the behest of the President in America began to build roads, hospitals, schools and prisons. This made it possible to overcome unemployment and bring the country out of distress. The only difference between the US and China is that the Chinese decided not to wait for the financial crisis and began to do the same in advance, thus possibly preventing a possible collapse of the economy.

There are tens of millions of builders in China, and they need to work constantly to feed their families. In addition, the reserves of industrialization in the Asian state are almost exhausted, the gross domestic product stops growing, while the country's economy is tightly tied to borrowed funds. An internal crisis can strike at any moment. The current Chinese megacities will be the first victims of it, and then the ghost towns will come in handy as new investment sites. And it will not be military, but economic settlement on alarm.

By the way, not all of these cities are completely deserted. For example, Ordos - the largest of them - is already inhabited by several thousand Chinese citizens. This is a real metropolis, in which there are empty libraries and supermarkets (but with salaried librarians and salesmen), empty buses run, deserted amusement parks work. Such a place is a real paradise for sociophobes and misanthropes. You can walk all day or ride a bike around the city without meeting a single living soul.

Video: Why are ghost towns being built in China?