There is said to be enough empty homes in China to house the entire population of France. Many of these residences are not abandoned, they are high rise apartments in gleaming new financial districts built upon former desert settlements that initially failed to take off. Writer Wade Shepard first observed the phenomenon of China's 'ghost cities' in the early 2000s but as the years have passed, has China managed to turn its empty municipalities into boom-towns? Click or scroll to explore the causes, contradictions and potential solutions to these urban phenomena...

Shepard's fascination began with his first sighting of a ghost city, after accidentally making a wrong turn at the bus station in Tianti, Zhejiang. He was struck by the surreal image of empty high-rises and office blocks with not a soul in sight, where all he could hear was his own breathing. The buildings "all appeared to be crisp and new, inside they were dark cavities, devoid of inhabitants and interior fit-out," he describes in his book Ghost Cities of China. 

The conventional definition of a ghost city is one that was once economically booming with a large population but is no longer thriving. China's are the opposite: its third- and fourth-tier cities are fully built up with the promise of becoming economic hubs, but due to high investment costs or a lack of economic opportunities, they fail to attract inhabitants. The CNCTST now better defines them as "a place that lacks an economic base, a large population, and whose houses are mostly dark at night". 

Goldman Sachs estimated the total value of the market hit $52 trillion (£38.7tr) in 2019, accounting for 29% of China's GDP, while the FT reported that same year that China recorded a 60% urbanisation rate. Yet much of this real estate lies empty – an estimated 65 million homes, enough to house the entire population of France. However, home ownership rates remain high – more than 90% of households in China are homeowners, according to a recent research paper from the NCBI. 

China’s ghost cities are not homes in states of abandonment; rather, tens of millions of units have been bought as investments. According to a nationwide housing survey by researchers at Chengdu’s Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, these account for more than one-fifth of China’s entire urban housing stock. The survey also found the issue to be the most severe in second- and third-tier cities. A perfect example of China’s rapid economic growth is Kangbashi in Inner Mongolia.

The nomadic people of the inner Mongolian city Ordos were not long ago living in their traditional tents, but became overnight millionaires thanks to the city's massive coal deposits. Ordos is now ranked in the top 10 in per capita income in China. Once dubbed China's answer to Dubai, Ordos district Kangbashi was planned as a massive civic mall with abundant monuments, cultural institutions, colossal plazas, large commercial and residential complexes, and towering government buildings.

Built in just five years, the new city was intended to house one million people (through the years planners have scaled it down to 300,000) and attract commuters from nearby Dongsheng (Old Ordos). Kangbashi, or Ordos New Town, was built as a futuristic hub on top of the former desert village. While work began in 2004, the major town facilities were widely put into use only in 2009. High property taxes and rushed construction prevented people from moving, making its main inhabitants migrant construction workers.

The region is seemingly always under construction, unfinished high-rises serving as the city’s decor and the civic buildings seem to follow suit. Shaped like a pebble from the nearby Gobi Desert, the Ordos Museum, by MAD Architects, took close to a decade to complete. Aside from the infamy of the region, it’s nice to see cultural buildings taking centre stage, with the National Opera House resembling a Mongolian hat and the National Library taking the form of a row of books.

Although the population started out at about 30,000, it has increased over the years thanks to city government measures, including curbing new building work. The local government also encouraged neighbouring residents to relocate to Kangbashi with generous compensation. Government offices were relocated to get public officials to settle closer to work, and even acclaimed high schools moved into the area. By 2017, there were more than 4,750 businesses in the district and a permanent population of 153,000.

Despite the government's initial efforts, Kangbashi's skyscrapers and residential buildings remained relatively empty, lying in wait. The 'stillborn city' adorned with extravagant architecture, gleaming public plazas, and stadiums, and seas of crisp new housing was described by ArchDaily as a failed utopia. However, new reports suggest that the city has finally turned a corner.

Local agents are reporting that existing apartments have all been sold out, causing local developers to build new complexes – 10 residential buildings are planned to break ground this year. The dramatic change is a direct result of intense competition among parents of high school students to secure places at China's top universities. For instance, Ordos No. 1 High School, which has sent students to leading universities in Beijing, calls Kangbashi home.

To send their children to their desired school, parents need to own a home in that district. This has caused housing prices to soar – homes near good schools in Shanghai can be worth millions. Local realtors state that prices in central Kangbashi now reach ¥15,000 ($2.3k/£1.7k) per square metre, despite the city's economy shrinking in 2019 and 2020. According to recent local government data, an estimated 120,000 people live here, and about 18,500 new students have enrolled in local schools.

While Kangbashi was built on wasteland, Tianjin was laid on top of reclaimed land, constructed over 155 square kilometres of what was once Bohai Bay. Typical of Chinese architecture, Tianjin was modelled after Manhattan, New York. The Yujiapu Financial District and Xiangluowan Business District in the Binhai New Area were envisioned as a potential centre for world trade and finance. While not as deserted, these regions are not as vibrant as you would expect of a commercial or financial district.

A $50-billion knock-off of the Big Apple, Yujiapu started becoming operational in 2009. Originally it was planned to become the financial services and economic hub of northern China within 10 years. Across the river, the Xiangluowan district began construction in 2007. It was conceived to be the centre for business and enterprise, and to house the central government’s offices and research centres. However, things did not go to plan.

While boasting a Manhattan-style skyline, Binhai's enterprise growth has been slow. In 2019 First Pacific Davies estimated the unoccupied rate of offices in Tianjin in Q3 at 36.4%, and higher in the upmarket offices of Yujiapu. Although planned as a financial district, most of Yujiapu's occupants have nothing to do with finance, and are instead from the trade, tech or logistics sectors. Even its New Financial Tower converted an entire floor into an interactive escape room venue.

When it opened in 2017, images of striking Tianjin Binhai Library went viral, with some describing it as 'the world's best library'. Dutch architects MVRDV collaborated with local firm TUPDI to create the futuristic five-story space, which resembles a three-dimensional eye from the outside. However, on closer inspection, many of the shelves did not contain books but rather printed aluminium plates intended to mimic books, drawing heavy criticism.

While low rents and well-built infrastructure have lured some businesses to Tianjin, the seemingly empty streets affect the overall business environment. In 2019, Tianjin’s official media, Meiri Xinbao, stated that about 100,000 people work and live in Yujiapu – a low figure, given it has been operational for 10 years. Thanks to its large port, free-trade zone and massive Airbus and Boeing factories, the region is still largely seen as a manufacturing area.

Rural farmland was rezoned for the construction of Tianducheng, a housing development located on the outskirts of Hangzhou in Zhejiang, about an hour by bullet train from Shanghai. With planners drawing inspiration from Paris, the luxury development comes equipped with its own Champs Elysées and a replica fountain from the Luxembourg Gardens. The city is constructed around its pièce de résistance: a clone of the Eiffel Tower, a third of the size of the original. 

Occupying 31 square kilometres, Tianducheng was built to accommodate 10,000 inhabitants at launch. But early reports suggested it had drawn as few as 2,000 residents, this absence of citizens attributed to its odd location – the development is surrounded by farmland, the countryside full of dead-end roads. Over the years, 'Paris II' has attracted new residents, however – occupancies have increased to 30,000, according to a 2017 South China Morning Post article.

In 2001, Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa was commissioned to draw up a comprehensive urban plan for Zhengdong, consisting of a core business district, living area and a college district (Longzihu). The heart of Zhengdong New District, Longzihu College Park and the fan-shaped Zhengzhou International Convention and Exhibition Center, broke ground in 2003, when the surrounding area was just barren development land.

Zhengzhou's mayor forecast in 2006 that the new district would expand to 500 square kilometres with a population of 5 million by 2020. However, it took a while for people to show up. A March 2013 60 Minutes report documented "vacant subdivisions uninhabited for miles and miles and miles". However, things started to change soon after these reports, and Zhengdong New Area has since experienced substantial growth.

Thanks to the arrival of several regional bank headquarters, and the building of the Zhengzhou East railway station, the mid-2010s saw Zhengdong transform from an eerie ghost city to one bustling with life. Wade Shepard reported in 2015 that the district had about 150 financial institutions and 1.4 million people, citing data from Standard Chartered Bank showing "the occupancy rate has jumped from 20 to 30% in 2012 to 50 to 60% by May 2014. Zhengdong is not a ghost city anymore.”

Since that report, Zhengdong New District’s economy has grown even further, along with its population up 27.5% from 2019 to 2020. Zhengdong’s success story continues with the development of a new district, forecast for completion by mid-2022, which Bloomberg Businessweek reports will consist of 36 financial office buildings, four five-star hotels, four apartment buildings, and two skyscrapers, with a total investment of about ¥50 billion ($78bn/£5.8bn).

For the past quarter of a century, China has been raising cities and financial and business districts out of desert villages, wastelands or reclaimed lands. While they start out empty, once these municipalities put the wheels in motion through favourable government policies, the cities began to draw larger and larger populations.

The cities have been transformed by the relocation of government and bank headquarters, and the introduction of subsidies and tax breaks as incentives for private companies to relocate. Meanwhile, the construction of school and university campuses have proved an essential tool in drawing new residents, with China's students driving urbanisation and increasing real estate prices in the region.

Initially criticised as a ploy to drive up GDP, former ghost cities like Zhengdong New District, Shanghai’s Pudong and Chenggong New District in Kunming are all examples of the government playing the long game. The “build it and they will come” approach that Wade Shepard first documented in his book Ghost Cities of China, seems to be coming true – and it looks likely that the 'ghost city' status of the country’s new developments is only temporary.

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