Ghost cities: The bustling places with no people

THEY are the big cities and towns filled with museums, huge buildings and even mega highways. The only thing they are missing is people.

An empty mall in New South China Mall, Dongguan, China.

THEY are the cities and towns filled with museums, big buildings and even mega highways.

The only thing missing is people. From capital cities to mega towns, these are places that time, and people, have literally forgot. In some cases, the cities wait for people to move in, while in others they have been left to rot. Here are just a few of the places around the world which are full of buildings but are empty of residents to fill them. SOUTH CHINA MALL, DONGUAN, CHINA: Opened in 2005 and hailed as the largest luxury shopping centre in the world with 659,612 square meters the owners expected 100,000 visitors a day, CNN reported. However, one employee claimed it had just a 20 per cent occupancy rate and the visitor rate is far from that. Dongguan is home to more 10 million residents and the luxury centre was built in a rural area, with some suggesting its residents are unable to afford the designer labels it aspires to sell. NAYPYITAW, MYANMAR: This purpose-built city became the capital of the country formerly known as Myanmar in 2005. It was commissioned by the then ruling military junta three years earlier and hosted the ASEAN Summit in 2014. The city boasts large government buildings, parks, golf courses, housing and even a 20-lane highway. Its name literally means “seat of the king”, but the only leader who lives here is President Than Shwe. It’s a space he shares with other government workers, military and police in a city designed for one million people, according to government figures. The city has a military-only zone, a ministry zone while its residential zone is filled with apartments which are allocated according to rank and marital status. ORDOS, INNER MONGOLIA: Filled with wide empty boulevards, Ordos has a central plaza that’s 2.5km long which seems massive when you consider the city has a population of just 140,000. The roads are wide and even in peak hour appear to be empty according to SBS Asia correspondent Adrian Brown. KANGBASHI, MONGOLIA: The city located on the outskirts of Ordos is another giant place which appears to be empty. Originally designed to accommodate a million people, many of the city’s properties have been sold, but according to Brown, remain empty. The homes were purchased for an investment when a mining boom which is now over. GARY, INDIANA: This once thriving Chicago area was established as a company town for US Steel back in 1906. However, the steel industry began declining in the 1960s and many residents went elsewhere, leaving dozens of houses and buildings empty. Between 6500 of the 7000 properties the city owns are abandoned, according to NBC News. Crime is a massive issue with once cosy homes now vacant while the rest of the city is filled with empty lots and illegal dumps. HASIMA ISLAND, JAPAN: Located off the coast of Nagasaki, this island was once a major coal mining centre for almost a full century. Purchased by Mitsubishi in 1890 to be developed as a coal mining island, this once-thriving place has now earned the nickname Gunkanjima, or battleship island due to its now abandoned, derelict buildings. As petroleum replaced coal in the late 1960s, Mitsubishi closed the mine in 1974, and seemingly many residents left with it The island is now filled with deserted ageing apartment buildings that are now some of the oldest apartment buildings in the country.