Ordos (E'erduosi) is one of the more than 300 municipality level jurisdictions that constitute China and cover virtually all of its land area. In 2009, Al Jeezera put Ordos Kangbashi and China’s ghost cities in front of the world for the first time. Genghis Kahn is reputed to have been so impressed by Ordos that The part of Ordos to which the "Ghost City" stories have referred is the Kangbashi New Area. The ghastly nature of the city is starting to become an idea for adventure tourism with photographers and journalists flocking to the city. There are reports that many of the apartments and condominiums are empty, though no information was found on the extent of unsold houses or the number that have been purchased simply as investments to hold (and have no residents). A more recent informal estimate by an Ordos municipal official indicated that the registered population had reached 72,000 in 2012 and would soon rise to Ordos is one of the most affluent municipalities of China. But this is not unusual for newer suburban areas in China, where eight lane streets can be the rule. Located 25 kilometers west of the old town, the Kangbashi/康巴什 new district sports a museum, opera house, library, cultural center, sculpture parks, malls and endless rows of megablock housing. Just across the principal bridge from the Kangbashi New Area are two buildings resembling the The Kangbashi new area does face some problems. Meaning the abandoned aspect at the moment is simply the transition between construction and inhabitation. In the United States, with a few exceptions, municipalities are within counties and there may be many municipalities within counties. Like other municipalities, Ordos is divided into districts which are translated broadly as county level jurisdictions. It is adjacent to and north of the urbanization of Azhen in Ejin Horo. This is again a common place in China for future investment, real estate still booming from the wealth created from coal veins.There is still a problem at the moment, however. Like the rest of China, there are a number of uncompleted building projects, as the economy is not growing nearly as quickly as before. In 2009, an Al Jazeera reporter reputedly stumbled into the new city by accident while reporting on another story. As a nation of over 1.379 billion people and 9,596,961 Km² getting your head around the numbers alone is a task enough.One such intricacy is the emerging abundance of ‘Ghost Towns’; urban areas which resemble a post-apocalyptic movie or post-war zone.
This leaves the streets empty and while Kangbashi is beautiful, clean and fresh there is not much to do.The 2012 Miss World competition was also recently hosted. Ordos may have built civic monuments and infrastructure beyond its means. China has about 2,900 county level jurisdictions, compared to the 3,100 county level jurisdictions in the United States. The Ordos mall is more than twice as long as The Mall in London.The Ordos mall is more extensive, for example, than what may be the largest local government mall in the United States, in Los Angeles.
There is an important difference, however. Ghosts do not generally need hotel rooms. The Ordos City web site says "The total area of the city is 87 thousand square Kilometers, with 7 Banners, 1 district (Dongsheng District) and the Kangbashi New District." This interruption by a lake is similar to the Canberra mall described aboveNear the north end of the mall is the Genghis Khan statue (Image 5). Kangbashi was created only six years ago. These cookies do not store any personal information.This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website.
The residential buildings tend to be from 5 to 12 floors (Images 14 - 16), and include the equivalent of strip malls (Image 16) that are close at hand for residents and can have full parking lots. The Kangbashi new area covers approximately 350 square kilometers (135 square miles) in the Dongsheng and Ejin Horo districts at the time of the 2010 census. It is not unusual for Chinese buyers to invest in additional properties, leaving them empty, a situation that is also been reported in central Big dreams are not limited to cities in China. Though, again, I expected many more based on the negative published reports.There has been a severe reduction in house prices, as the Chinese economy has gotten worse. This mall is somewhat different than the others, because it was built after most of the government buildings, which are located elsewhere.Ceremonial malls can be built by local governments as well, and Ordos has built one of world-class dimensions. In 2006, the municipal seat was moved from Dongsheng to the Kangbashi new area. Simply put, Kangbashi is … Today, Ordos’ Kangbashi district sits somewhere between the fantastical visions of its founders and the “ghost city” that haunted media reports. The tallest buildings are here and some of the most impressive commercial architecture. Their correspondent, Melissa Chan — who later gained infamy for being the first journalist in 15 years to get kicked out of China — claimed to have found the city by mistake while reporting on another story in the area. Some of the ghost city articles have claimed that the Kangbashi new area was projected to have 1 million residents . Only time will tell whether such visions can be sustained. South China Morning Post/ Getty Located in Inner Mongolia, Ordos Kangbashi was built to be a modern city with state-of-the-art architecture, large stadiums, and gorgeous public spaces.