Thought some of you would be interested in this.
Kangbashi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kangbashi) is the very definition of master-planned. Ordos, a district of Inner Mongolia, China, wanted to create a town due to coal mining growth in the area that could house one million inhabitants. The project began in 2003, although it's nowhere near capacity; the population's about 30,000 right now. Still, the sights of an "instant city" are nothing short of amazing to me...it looks like a giant theme park.
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fbuyyoursmile.com%2Ffiles%2F2011%2F02%2Fc9786064ffdos_08.jpg.jpg&hash=81c2c44504d4e51dbb12d98d1e50228ed3659aff)
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fweburbanist.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2011%2F01%2Fordos-china-ghost-town-3.jpg&hash=db3de5bde69e889ef8422371e8dc4c61dbac4344)
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fweburbanist.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2011%2F01%2Fordos-china-ghost-town-main.jpg&hash=d618454d4fc17f9fe32c1b0928fce845037a5a08)
But zooming in and out of Google Maps just blew me away!
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fmaps.google.com%2Fmaps%2Fapi%2Fstaticmap%3Fcenter%3D39.60%2C109.78%26amp%3Bsize%3D700x700%26amp%3Bzoom%3D15%26amp%3Bmaptype%3Dhybrid%26amp%3Bsensor%3Dfalse&hash=8a05d2340b4dc9a0489943efcf1792b9ae5b0841)
http://www.wikimapia.org/#lat=39.6046301&lon=109.7806692&z=15&l=0&m=h
...those roads! :spin:
http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1975397,00.html
http://www.bored-todeath.com/amazing/modern-ghost-town/
http://www.photographyserved.com/gallery/Kangbashi/1128337
Looks like someone forgot to zone properly in sim city. Too few jobs, too many houses.
Had to make that joke, as that is how 95% of my sim city 4 towns failed when i first started, or i just decided to experiment with freeways and toll bridges.
I looked it up on Google Earth. Very interesting, though not surprising considering it is China. One thing I did notice was the lack of a rail transit connection to the other main cities a few miles to the north. With plans for 1 million people, how exactly do they propose getting them around quickly? :pan:
Though, I suppose with 30,000 people the traffic won't be that bad. ;-)
I spotted some videos about these Chinese "ghost towns".
Ordos is pretty much in the middle of nowhere. Inner Mongolia is rich in natural resources and has one of the highest GDP/capita values, but it is also quite remote in a harsh environment.
You can develop large suburbs yes, maybe a new edge city (like Irvine, CA) but a whole new metropolis? It appears to me the location has been randomly chosen in the Gobi Desert. There is no river, no lake, no pre-existing infrastructure, just nothing.