The eerie cities where nobody lives

The world's biggest ghost towns

In the last few decades, built-up areas in China have increased nearly fivefold – from 3,413 square miles (8,842 sq km) in 1984 to 16,126 square miles (41,768 sq km) in 2010. To construct these new urban zones, China used more concrete in the three years between 2011 and 2013 than the whole of the United States used in the 20th Century.

Yet even in the world’s second largest economy, the rate of development has overtaken demand. Take China's largest ghost town, Kangbashi in Ordos, Inner Mongolia. The province is rich in natural resources and the government built a futuristic city quickly to house an expected influx of workers. But they never came. Apart from a few local officials and a handful of migrant workers enticed by a special "relocation bonus" the city's towerblocks, plazas and sports stadium stand empty.

There are dozens of uninhabited urban developments across China. Despite a new push to move 100 million rural workers to cities, they remain a haunting reminder of China's sky-high economic ambitions.

Credit: Raphael Olivier (photos 1-6) / Kai Caemmerer (photos 7-9) / Getty Images (photos 10-12).

Locations: Kangbashi (photos 1-7) / Changsha, Hunan province (8) / Binhai New Area, Tianjin (9) / Caofeidian Industrial Zone near Tangshan, Hebei province (photos 10-12)