Blocky skyscrapers with hollows of dark windows, huge shopping malls, deserted roads with bright markings and working traffic lights, deserted amusement parks with bright attractions are the ghost towns of China. For whom are endless residential quarters built, where only the wind blows, who invests heavily in the construction of real estate that, it seems, is not needed by anyone?
For the rich and farmers
China is a peculiar country. Only recently were ordinary people allowed to own houses and apartments there. The demand for housing immediately exceeded the supply, so huge sums began to pour into the real estate market, thanks to which empty housing estates appeared in the vicinity of large cities.
High-rise buildings have become a successful replacement for the historic low huts, which began to disappear at the speed of light, as if erased from city maps with erasers.
The Chinese were so active in building new houses that they simply did not have time to sell them. In different parts of China, cities began to appear without residents, but with all the urban infrastructure - schools, kindergartens, squares, bike paths, shopping malls, university campuses, etc.
The Chinese press every now and then mentions the plans of the country's leadership to resettle rural residents, of whom there are about 250 million, to new cities. True, so far the peasants themselves are not very eager to get into concrete boxes.
To speed up this process, land is being bought out from Chinese farmers and offered preferential terms for purchasing existing empty apartments in today's ghost towns. Some peasants rejoice in the presence of hospitals, shops and schools near their homes.
Europe in China
Some suburbs of Shanghai, built "in reserve" in the first decade of the XXI century, are mini-copies of famous European cities.
Despite the fact that the Chinese are already actively exploring the European space and flickering in the photographs of any traveler who returned from Europe, they want to see in their country, for example, a second Paris. In China, it is known as Qianduchen. All buildings here are designed to remind of the French capital. The Chinese even recreated the Eiffel Tower. Now wedding corteges come here, but the houses where 100 thousand people can live are still closed and deserted.
Another European town in China is called Thames City. It is a replica of a traditional English village with red booths, pubs and quiet streets. This city is also waiting for its future residents.
A city in an open field
The news of the expansion of existing cities, tourists who find themselves in China, perceive with understanding and even respect. For example, the Chinese metropolis of Kunming, which is already home to 6 million people, has been expanded by building a suburb called Chenggong.
The slender streets of turnkey skyscrapers are still unoccupied, but this is likely to happen in the near future, as some offices have already been relocated to Chenggong. Even Kunming City Hall will now be located here.
Surprise is caused by the huge almost deserted cities, designed for millions of inhabitants, which are built several tens of kilometers from other settlements. So, in the region of Inner Mongolia in 2003, construction began on the new city of Kanbashi.
So far, houses for 300 thousand people are ready. For the construction of buildings and infrastructure, the Chinese authorities have allocated a whopping $ 161 billion. In addition to typical skyscrapers, there have already been commissioned:
office districts, where the “fathers” of the urban district (as the region is called in China - a city with adjoining villages and fields) Ordos, who previously ruled from Dongsheng;
- recreation area around a natural reservoir;
- Genghis Khan Square - a grandiose open space with monumental sculptures;
- a city museum designed by fashionable architects from MAD Architects;
- a library whose appearance resembles a stack of tomes left by some giant;
- theater, where you can find 2 scenes at once - theatrical and concert.
And all this beauty is empty. Officials who have been ordered to move into office buildings in Kanbashi to create the appearance that the city is thriving and about to become the center of the urban district return home in the evenings to their families in Dongsheng City, which is 25 km away.
Perspectives of "ghost towns"
What does the future hold for "ghost towns"? Will everything built in the coming decades decay, or will life in cities still warm up?
It is impossible to call the construction of "ghost towns" hopeless. Many wealthy Chinese people invest their money by buying apartments there. That is, the supposedly ownerless houses still belong to someone.
The Chinese authorities hope that over time, each house will find its owner. The speed with which whole empty cities appear on the map of China is explained simply by a large infusion of money into the construction field. In a few years, every investment in new broadband routes, quirky theaters and museums, and comfortable yuan office buildings will pay off.
The already mentioned city of Kanbashi can serve as a confirmation of this. A rather promising place was chosen for its construction. After a thorough study of the area, it turned out that the city will be founded next to gas and coal deposits that are yet to be developed. This means that future residents of Kanbashi will not be left without work.
Those who decide to settle here also understand this. In 2007, only 30 thousand people moved to Kanbashi for permanent residence. Now this number has increased to 100 thousand.
Experts are sure that very little time will pass - and the former "ghost towns", frightening tourists with their eerie silence, will become noisy Asian megacities.
