The Story of China's Ghost Cities and Its 65 Million Empty Homes (2024)

FAQs

What is the truth about China's ghost cities why China is building empty cities? ›

Ghost Cities are vacant neighborhoods and sometimes whole cities that were built but were never inhabited. Their existence is a physical manifestation of Chinese overdevelopment in real estate and the dependence on housing as an investment strategy.

The phrase “ghost city” might imply a city once full of life and now abandoned. But China's ghost cities are brand new, and their high-rises never populated. Many had remained that way for years, byproducts of rapid economic growth that continue to plague the nation's urban planning strategy.

There are currently as many as 50 ghost cities and 64 million empty apartments across the country. Building a city sounds easy after looking at the pictures of tall apartments, commercial buildings and modern architecture.

Ordos Kangbashi is often seen as one of the first and most prominent examples of the international Chinese ghost city phenomenon and fascination. Some journalists have pointed to the Ordos Kangbashi ghost city stories as an example of media hastily and often misinformed reporting of developments in China.

By opting for such an aggressive urban development model and after massive quantities of debt-fueled construction, the country is now home to many uninhabited buildings and “ghost cities”, leaving the developers in insurmountable debt. While some of these “ghost neighbourhoods” found occupants later on.

Factors leading to the abandonment of towns include depleted natural resources, economic activity shifting elsewhere, railroads and roads bypassing or no longer accessing the town, human intervention, disasters, massacres, wars, and the shifting of politics or fall of empires.

Perfectly (or near perfectly) preserved relics of our past can be found around the nation. As The New York Times reported, some 3,800 ghost towns exist in America, mostly abandoned between the 19th and 20th centuries for greener pastures and big city dreams.

Now, many have been untouched for over a hundred years (yet some still have a ton of historic buildings somehow still standing). There are ghost towns all over the U.S., if you're brave enough for a visit. They're located in Pennsylvania, Wyoming, Montana, Alaska, New Mexico, New York, West Virginia, and more.

A study conducted by a company named Geotab has compiled a list of over 3,800 ghost towns across America. According to the company, Texas has the most ghost towns of any state, with over 500.

Welcome to Jerome, Arizona, America's largest ghost town.

Where is the largest ghost town in the world? ›

Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, a large city that's known for its marble buildings, is referred to as "the city of the dead."

Jerome was a copper mining camp that grew from a settlement of tents to a roaring mining community. But after four disastrous fires,the Depression and the end of World War II, the thriving population of 15,000 decreased to only 100.

It was so named because access to the area was barred to most of the subjects of the realm. Government functionaries and even the imperial family were permitted only limited access; the emperor alone could enter any section at will.

Today, the Forbidden City is home to the Palace Museum. It houses over one million rare Chinese artworks and artifacts. Most of these come from the Ming and Qing dynasties.

In brief，the key reason of the periodic collapse and reconstruction of ancient Chinese civilization is the population pressure in a relatively limited land resources and unfair distribution and possession of social wealth.

In addition to its low labor costs, China has become known as "the world's factory" because of its strong business ecosystem, lack of regulatory compliance, low taxes and duties, and competitive currency practices.

The Great Wall of China was first built by various states during the Zhou Dynasty to block invasions from neighboring states. For instance, the Qi State built the wall to block the Chu State, and the Chu built it to block the Qi and Qin States.

Calico received State Historical Landmark 782 and in 2005 was proclaimed by then Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to be California's Silver Rush Ghost Town. Today, Calico is part of the San Bernardino County Regional Parks system, which is visited by people from across the country and from all over the world.

There are thousands of abandoned hamlets in the U.S. Some people still live and vacation in them. Maybe you want to, too?

What is the ghost town Mystery about? ›

Grandfather has just bought a plot of land in the Rocky Mountains―complete with a ghost town! When the Aldens hear that the land is haunted, they don't believe it. But when they see a ghostly figure on the main street, they have another mystery to solve!

Abandoned Picher, Oklahoma: The Most Toxic Town in America.

'The Most Toxic Town in America'

The town of Picher, Okla became an incorporated community in 1920, with a population of 9,726. The town was built around lead and zinc mining. In fact, Picher mine shafts produced over half of the lead used to make bullets fired during World War I.

From creaky old buildings covered in vines to boarded-up churches and cemeteries, there are more than a few Florida ghost towns to explore. Sure, plenty of these abandoned towns aren't actually occupied by spirits, but at the very least, they're certainly home to creepy-crawlies.

Eagle Mountain is among the America's best preserved ghost towns, mostly due to the fact that it's one of the newest. In the shadows of Joshua Tree in in Riverside County, the town was founded in 1948 by Henry J. Kaiser, a.k.a, the father of modern American shipbuilding.

Tahawus, New York Is One of New York State's Biggest Ghost Town. Tahawus, New York actually has the distinction of becoming a ghost town twice. Ironworkers began working in the area in 1826 but were forced to close around 1857 due to impurities of titanium dioxide that was found in the iron.

Centralia, Pa.

Located in covered bridge-heavy Columbia County in northeastern Pennsylvania, the borough of Centralia is without a doubt North America's most notorious modern near ghost town. That's right, near ghost town.

Back in the day, Garnet was a frontier mining town but has been mostly abandoned for about 100 years. Your lodging is absolutely free.

For many years, the bubble in the Chinese housing market led to rising property prices and developers scrambled to build ever-more units. But demand for units has now shrunk, due to a number of factors, including increasing unaffordability of homes, an aging population, and slowing population growth.

Why are there so many empty skyscrapers in China? ›

CHINA is awash with "ghost cities" where apartment blocks stand abandoned or mothballed with some 65million empty homes. The dystopian landscape of empty high-rises, expansive parks and grand monuments are the product of China's breakneck economic rise over the last 30 years.

As The New York Times reported, some 3,800 ghost towns exist in America, mostly abandoned between the 19th and 20th centuries for greener pastures and big city dreams. However, just because no one lives there doesn't mean you can't visit.

Rural-urban divide in China

Why, then, is there such a pull to the cities in China? Life is better in cities. Differences in living standards between rural and urban China are so large that the migration will continue to be seen as a solution for many people.

Sixteen million homes currently sit vacant across the U.S. In every state across the country, many homes remain empty while hundreds of thousands of Americans face homelessness.

But the number four is considered unlucky because it sounds a lot like the word for “death,” and as a result Chinese buildings often lack a fourth floor (just as American buildings sometimes skip the 13th). Likewise, Chinese drivers avoid license plates ending in four.

During normal urban development, large cities absorb smaller ones as they expand, but in many cases in China they have over-expanded, building entire new cities or districts which become under-occupied “ghost cities.”

For millennia, Chinese leaders instituted wall-building projects to protect the land from northern, nomadic invaders.

The Forbidden City was built in Beijing on the orders of Zhu Di — Ming Dynasty Emperor Yongle (reigned 1402–24). Its purpose was to consolidate his imperial power and protect his own security. Read on to see the story behind it.

The three most vacant cities in the U.S. are all in Florida: Orlando, Miami, and Tampa. These cities are known for tourism and vacation homes, which means houses sit vacant for much of the year.

Bodie, California

Like a straight-up Western movie set, Bodie is one of the most famous (and the largest) unreconstructed ghost towns in America.

How many Americans live in China? ›

An estimate published in 2018 counted 600,000 people of other nations living in China, with 12% of those from the US; that means approximately 72,000 Americans living in China.

The Chinese diaspora in the United States is comprised of approximately 5.4 million individuals who were born in China, Hong Kong, or Macao, or reported Chinese ancestry or race, according to MPI tabulation of data from the U.S. Census Bureau's 2021 ACS. The Chinese diaspora is the ninth largest in the country.

In addition to its low labor costs, China has become known as "the world's factory" because of its strong business ecosystem, lack of regulatory compliance, low taxes and duties, and competitive currency practices.