A lot of "ghost cities" that were reported on in the Western press are now thriving communities. Although some major property development schemes do end up beco

A lot of "ghost cities" that were reported on in the Western press are now thriving communities. Although some major property development schemes do end up becoming white elephants (particularly in the poorer north), most "ghost cities" aren't abandoned, they're just in the process of becoming occupied. Properties in China are normally sold as a bare undecorated shell, which makes new developments look derelict to western eyes. Clearly many of these projects are of dubious quality, but that problem is by no means unique to China. https://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2013/09/24/chinas-ghost-cities-may-not-be-so-spooky/ https://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2013/09/24/chinas-ghost-... https://www.theguardian.com/money/2017/apr/02/new-build-homes-reputation-problems-developers https://www.theguardian.com/money/2017/apr/02/new-build-home... https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-47826166 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-47826166