Dubai is an incredible city. It was once just a stretch of desert, of interest only to a modest number of traders. Now the city is huge, and much of what is in it is also incredible and crazy. Its success inspired other countries to try to create something similar. But few have done it as poorly as China.

A little history

IN beginning of XXI century Chinese government decided to bring the luxury and splendor of Dubai to Inner Mongolia (a region of China - editor's note). On an empty plot of the Gobi Desert, it was decided to build a cultural, economic and political center. Magnificent buildings designed by famous architects were erected there. World-class libraries, stadiums, and museums appeared there. The name of this city is Ordos, and it became a huge failure.

Why is the city not populated?

The problem was that the creation new version Dubai in the middle of the desert turned out to be very expensive. Initially, the costs were planned to be covered by funds from the development of coal deposits located nearby. However, the calculations turned out to be incorrect - most of the mines turned out to be unprofitable and were closed. Therefore, in order to somehow justify investments in the construction of Ordos City, the government inflated real estate prices in the city. Apartments here turned out to be so expensive that only Shanghai could compete with them in terms of moving costs. Chinese citizens decided that spending all their life's money to move to a ghost town was not a good idea. good idea. Moreover, the closure of the mines put an end to profitable employment. As a result, Ordos stood completely empty for about a decade. Even today it is very sparsely populated and looks more like a construction site than a metropolis.

How to live in a ghost town

1. The first thing that catches your eye is the unusually clean streets. Despite the sparse population, public services work well. And there’s no one to litter especially – the city’s population does not exceed 100,000 people. There is no vandalism as a phenomenon in the city.

2. Empty buses ply along deserted streets. There is not a soul at the bus stops even during rush hours.

3. The lack of population does not prevent the development of local infrastructure. The city has a tourist office and bike rental points.

4. In some places the city resembles an abandoned construction site - some of the buildings remained unfinished and surrounded by scaffolding.

5. Huge malls are empty, only a small part is occupied retail space. To save money, lighting does not work everywhere.

6. A monument to Genghis Khan was erected in Ordos. According to legend, the ruler visited this area and was so moved by the landscape that he called this place a paradise.

On the pages of this site you could already see a large collection of various abandoned places and places, but you have never seen such a huge one as Ordos. Unfortunately, over time there are no fewer of them, but on the contrary - cities, settlements, villages, which are called terrible word- ghosts, more and more every day. Even though most These places look really deplorable and even depressing; such abandoned places, like a magnet, attract people's attention.

Ordos is a city in China. It is impossible to say 100% that this is a completely extinct ghost town. No, there are residents here, but there are so few of them in such huge areas filled with multi-story buildings that even at the height of the weekend summer day It is very difficult to see even a single passerby here. The city looks like after some environmental disaster. New houses stand untouched by anyone, and there is not even garbage on the streets.

The history of the area and the ghost town began with the discovery of mineral deposits here in 2003. The Chinese authorities bought the city, made a gigantic cash injection, as a result of which many houses, businesses, various institutions, schools, parks, squares, architectural structures, monuments, etc. small town turned into a huge metropolis. However, despite the good investment, there were very few people willing to settle here. Even modern campaigns that are aimed at settling Ordos do not give the desired result. The city's population is 17.8 people per 1 square kilometer. Such density is typical only for remote areas of the taiga, steppes or tundra.

Do you want to arrange a truly beautiful and unforgettable trip for yourself? A holiday would be an excellent choice for you Scarlet Sails in St. Petersburg. On the website http://mirstran.com/sankt-peterburg-alye-parusa/ you can find out everything about this exciting event, costs, expenses, accommodation in Northern Capital and much more.

In 2003, the Chinese authorities decided to build a million-plus city near discovered deposits of coal and other minerals. It’s not hard to guess that only huge mineral reserves could force the authorities to build the city. Online magazine Factinteres will tell you about the ghost town of Ordos.

Ordos city ( Inner Mongolia) was originally designed for a million inhabitants. Therefore, cultural and sports facilities were built in the city, several architectural projects. However, the city remained practically empty.

During the construction process, it was found that there was no demand for housing under construction. According to some information, demand has not arisen due to high taxes and high housing costs. This kept many families from moving to this city.

Another reason for the lack of demand is its location. The "New" Ordos is located just a few kilometers from the "Old" Ordos, which is quite prosperous. People simply don't see the point in moving. As of 2010, more than 90% of Ordos apartments were empty. The remaining 10% was taken by builders and officials.

Over the past few years, the Chinese government has repeatedly lured residents to Ordos. There were promises of free apartments and generous compensation. Only the population size has not changed significantly. In the area of 32 kilometers many government agencies moved to Ordos, counting on the relocation of civil servants.

There are many branches in Ordos good universities. Some of the constructed apartments were converted into dormitories and occupied by students.

According to official data, the number of residents in the city is 100,000 people. However, many do not believe this information. It is likely that officials are hiding real figure, so as not to reveal an urban planning disaster.

The officials’ mistake was to believe that all they needed to do was build a city and the residents would come. Proof of this is the ghost town of Ordos. Lack of desire to move from rural areas in cities can significantly affect economic condition China.

The city of Ordos was designed to be the crowning glory of Inner Mongolia. However, this futuristic metropolis is doomed to be incomplete. Now it rises majestically from the desert of northern China, but only 2 percent of the buildings are inhabited, the rest mostly falling into disrepair, abandoned in the middle of construction, justifying given to the city Ordos' nickname is Ghost Town.

Last year, Dori-Darmon Richter traveled to Inner Mongolia to take a closer look at the strange, ghostly metropolis of Ordos... and was surprised that it looked much stranger than anything he had seen before.

It turned out that a huge real estate market is located in a completely unfamiliar place in China.

With a population of 1,351,000,000, the city is growing rapidly, and people's ownership of apartments has created many new millionaires and a rapidly growing elite class. At the same time, analysts fear that this real estate bubble may soon burst.

Some people are extremely surprised by the rapidity with which cities, almost unheard of in size in the West, are developing dynamically. But, in the background economic success, there are hidden problems close to dead ends and bankruptcies. However, of all the oddities of China, nothing compares to the 'Ghost Town' of Ordos.

The city of Ordos is a population center located in the Ordos desert, and today it is one of the most big cities Inner Mongolia. This area is famous for its rapidly growing population and developing infrastructure of Inner Mongolia, possessing more high level GDP than even Beijing.

Inner Mongolia is interesting place. Since this is the birthplace of Genghis Khan, 79% of the population is Chinese, the predominant Han ethnicity, while 17% are Mongolian.

Interestingly, however, Inner Mongolia is one of the few places in the world that still uses traditional Mongolian writing. While in Mongolia itself the Cyrillic alphabet was adopted during the period communist regime, here you can still see the ancient symbols that still appear on street signs in Ordos.

Builders began planning the new city center in 2003. He was supposed to be great precious stone China and the crown of urban Chinese art.

However, no one expected how quickly this new development will fail. Deadlines were not met, loans were not repaid, and investors concluded that the project could not be completed. Entire streets of unfinished buildings remained. High cost living in this city does not allow many residents to pay for it. As a result, even fully completed apartments have become difficult to sell.

According to one local taxi driver, many of those who were finally forced to move to the city of Kangbashi were forced to leave their homes and go to a ghost town.

Typical house prices in Kangbashi have dropped from $1,100 to $470 per square meter, over the past five years.

Today, it is planned to resettle a population of over one million people in the territory, but for now about 20,000 people live in Ordos.

In November 2009, Time magazine wrote about the city of Ordos and people all over the world learned about this wonderful metropolis. Pretty soon it earned the nickname “China's Ghost Town.”

Since then, many journalists and photographers from all over the world have been drawn like a magnet to the city with its lonely urban landscape, with empty streets, rows of residential but uninhabited houses abandoned in the middle of construction.

The city of Ordos is served by a newly built airport. It's obvious that someone once built grandiose plans about this city.

The futuristic terminal building is decorated with fountains and hanging baskets, while chic cafes and escalators glow in shades of green and blue.

Deserted streets futuristic ghost town Ordos in China.

Deserted streets of the futuristic ghost town of Ordos in China.

Monument in the futuristic ghost town of Ordos in China.

Deserted streets of the futuristic ghost town of Ordos in China.

A colorful mural in the futuristic ghost town of Ordos in China.

Deserted streets of the futuristic ghost town of Ordos in China.

Deserted underground parking in the ghost town of Ordos in China.

Deserted streets of the futuristic ghost town of Ordos in China.

We continue to expand our section Known to everyone on the Internet, but no less interesting topic. China continues to implement gigantic growth projects, thereby simultaneously stimulating its economy. In Inner Mongolia, the city of Ordos was built, designed for 1 million people. Now 20 thousand live in it, 98% of the buildings are empty.

Let's find out more about it...

Photo 2.

As a rule, their stories are similar to each other:

Somewhere a mineral deposit was found, a city was built around it, which provided well-paid jobs for millions of people. This would continue for many years, but sooner or later the field would come to an end. All minerals have been extracted, and the city's economy has declined at a catastrophic rate. Residents scattered in search of better life. Since then, the city has been looking at the world through empty window sockets, gradually becoming overgrown with trees, which will soon completely swallow the city.

But that’s what the rule is for, so that there are exceptions. And our exception is the region Kangabashi (Kangabashi) Chinese city Ordos (Ordos). Ordos, translated, sounds like “Palace Complex” and this name, in my opinion, is iconic. Why - a little lower. In fact, this is the most ordinary ghost town, but with one very remarkable difference - this city is in second place on the list of the richest cities in China!!! It is second only to Shanghai, and next to Ordos is the capital of China - Beijing.
Photo 24.

Construction of the city of Ordos in Inner Mongolia province began in 2003. Despite the fact that Mongols make up only about 17% of this province, it was decided to build the city in the Mongol style (hence its name, associated with the word “Horde”).

As a result, by 2010, a city designed for 1 million people was built on an area of 355 square kilometers (by the way, the population density in it is 4 times less than in Moscow - by the way, even overpopulated China can afford to build spacious cities , but this is a topic for a separate article). However, by the end of 2013, Ordos was only 2% populated - 20 thousand people live in it.

Photo 3.

The main investor-developer in 2008-09 set housing prices here at 10-11 thousand dollars per sq. m. m, today they have fallen almost 2-3 times - to 4-4.5 thousand dollars. However, these prices are unaffordable for the vast majority of residents of the Inner Mongolia province, where average salaries are 400-500 dollars.

The Chinese government intends to buy some of the empty space in Ordos for retired military personnel, but there will be no more than 20-25 thousand of them here (i.e. another 2-2.5% of the city’s population to the current 2%).

Photo 4.

Photo 5.

All these 3-5 years after the commissioning of the objects, management companies are forced to incur losses while maintaining the infrastructure of the empty city - repairs, street cleaning, security, street lighting, landscaping, etc. – and this is up to 10-12 million dollars monthly. This money was allocated to the developer by Chinese state banks in the form of a loan at a low interest rate. At the current rate of settlement, Ordos will be completely populated in 40-50 years.

Here's what they write on the Internet: with a population of 1.5 million people, the GDP here is 14.5 thousand dollars per capita. How did this happen?

There is a lot that is not said about this place, and as a result, you may have confusion in the numbers, since everywhere it is indicated that the population of Ordos is one and a half million people. This is actually true, but this population lives in the old Ordos, here we are talking about a huge area called New Ordos, which began to be built after the discovery of rich mineral deposits here

Photo 7.

In 2003, huge mineral deposits were discovered in this area ( remember the preamble?) According to experts, 1/6 of the coal reserves and 1/3 of the reserves are concentrated here natural gas, from all currently known Chinese deposits. Truly huge amount. The city is also home to the production of electricity and building materials, the textile industry, petrochemical enterprises, etc. As one would expect, the government could not resist the temptation to generously finance the development of this area

As a result, the city grew from a small settlement into a huge, theoretically, metropolis... The government, during the investment, carried out great propaganda for private individuals to invest in buildings, acquiring them as their property. However, there were very few people who wanted to settle in this city. As a result, it turned out that almost the entire purchased city turned out to be practically empty

Photo 8.

To this day, no amount of persuasion or propaganda can force the people of China to change their minds. This one, the second one economic development the city remains one of the most sparsely populated in the world. The population density in Ordos is 17.8 people per square kilometer. For comparison, in Moscow this figure is 10,000 per km2, in St. Petersburg - 3,200 per km2. Less, probably only in the tundra?

Modern houses, wide avenues, squares and gardens were designed by best architects, but people are in no hurry to move to new homes: there are no shops, cinemas or even offices in the city. Those few residents of the city who live here, almost alone, enjoy not only the desert landscapes, but also modern architectural complexes, futuristic buildings.

Photo 9.

Kangbashi is still waiting for its inhabitants, who will sooner or later fill the city, because China’s population is the largest on planet Earth

Photo 10.

In many respects, the city of Ordos can be considered an example successful development. There is a nearby large deposits coal and gas, the economy is developing rapidly, real estate prices are rising by leaps and bounds. IN modern city The only thing missing is people.

There are traffic lights everywhere, but there are no pedestrians, and a rare car reaches the center of Ordos. According to the plan, 500 thousand Chinese should live here. In fact, the new quarters are empty. Not because people abandoned them. They were never inhabited. But opposite the city hall there is a monument - a source of special pride for the few townspeople. “These beautiful horses are a symbol of our powerful development. Now no one can keep up with Ordos,” says Ordos resident Ma Xing.

According to city hall employee Ma Xing, luxury housing here is sold wholesale. Therefore, all square meters were sold out even before construction began. Residents of other provinces bought - some a second and some a third apartment, with a gentle mortgage loan - 4% per annum.

“They came in large numbers, bought them and don’t live. And we have problems with utilities. They save water by giving it in the evenings. And there are gas shortages. The meter does not turn on,” notes Ma Shuilian, a resident of the city of Ordos.

Photo 11.

At Mr. Ma's uninvited guest glad. When the heating does not work, the indigenous Ordosians, and there are no more than a thousand of them here, look for a house where it is still available. And then there was a feast and the traditional question: why does the country need such cities? “Either these are plans for a great migration from our megacities, the ecology of which is about to collapse, or a gigantic theft of budget money,” says Ma Sin, a resident of the city of Ordos.

While ordinary people are trying to explain what is happening, deputies of the Chinese parliament are talking about the phenomenon of the PRC economy. The pace of urbanization here is surprising, to say the least. The same Ordos appeared in just 6 years. And the work is still underway. “This policy has existed for many years, but only now are we talking about the threat of a mortgage bubble,” says independent expert Fei Zhongren.

According to official statistics, there are already more than a dozen such deserted cities in China. And the demand for a second or third apartment is growing. So are the prices. They are available only to a select few.

Photo 12.

“If I were a millionaire, I would serve as an example to everyone. I would buy a square meter of ordinary housing” - the authorities consider this song seditious. And you can't find it on the Internet. A popular hit here is performed in gateways. “We sing about how young people are doomed to wander. It’s no joke: to save up for an apartment, we need to work for 100 years,” says student, author of the song Wei Xingcun.

Even local authorities cannot predict how long Ordos will be empty. But experts have calculated: if ghost towns do not solve the problem of unaffordable prices and excess real estate within 10 years, China's mortgage lending will collapse. And from it, as world experience shows, to a severe economic crisis is just a step.

Photo 13.