The Chinese government is pushing forward with a massive plan to move 250 million rural townspeople to urban areas over the course of the next 12 to 15 years. In order to meet this goal, it has bulldozed large swaths of farmland and evicted millions of villagers from their homes.
But even as skyscrapers, shopping malls, and office complexes spring up overnight, most of China's brand new metropolises remain largely vacant. Colorful "For Rent" banners adorn the exteriors of apartment buildings, freshly paved boulevards go days without seeing a single vehicle, and shopkeepers doze on their counters as they wait for customers to arrive.
With over 64 million uninhabited apartments, China's ghost cities are sad, lonely places to live
MICHAEL CHRISTOPHER BROWN FOR TIME
All Quiet
The Kangbashi district began as a public-works project in Ordos, a wealthy coal-mining town in Inner Mongolia. The area is filled with office towers, administrative centers, government buildings, museums, theaters and sports fields—not to mention acre on acre of subdivisions overflowing with middle-class duplexes and bungalows. The only problem: the district was originally designed to house, support and entertain 1 million people, yet hardly anyone lives there
MICHAEL CHRISTOPHER BROWN FOR TIME
Empty
Though many of the properties in Kangbashi have been sold and a million people were projected to be living in Kangbashi by 2010, the city is still empty.
Michael Christopher Brown for TIME
Vacant
Mostly empty apartment buildings in Kangbashi, a half hour down the road is Dongsheng, where most of Ordos' 1.5 million resident call home.
Michael Christopher Brown for TIME
Monument
A pedestrian walks behind a giant sculpture of two horses in Kangbashi's Linyinlu Square.
Michael Christopher Brown for TIME
Light Traffic
Mostly empty apartment buildings stand in the distance.
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