World's largest ghost cities
Somewhat related to the "What Cities have shrunk most from their peak" thread, what are the world's largest abandoned cities (or have less than ~10% of their peak or intended population)? Lets use 10,000 as a minimum threshold and say that it should've sustained this population for long enough to build significant infrastructure.
Examples I can think of: Pripyat, Ukraine peak. 50,000 (current 0) Agdam, Azerbaijan peak. 40,000 (current 0) Varosha, Cyprus peak. 40,000 (current 0) Kowloon Walled City, Hong Kong peak. 33,000 (demolished) - not sure if this counts Tawergha, Libya peak. 25,000 (current 0) Beichuan, China peak. 20,000 (current 0) Chernobyl, Ukraine peak. 14,000 (current 700) |
You really can't give up this fetish, can you?
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Although much smaller, Plymouth Montserrat could be included(at least 6,000 with suburbs before the eruption so smaller than 10,000)..although it was the main town on the island.
Also smaller one would be Neftogorsk, Russia. Armero, Columbia was abandoned after being wiped out in 1985 and had a population of 25,000 so that one would qualify. Pitcher Oklahoma had over 14,000 residents in 1926. Now abandoned due to contamination. All of these towns now have 0 populations. |
Beichuan was rebuilt after the 2008 earthquake
New Beichuan: http://img2.everychina.com/img//10/f...f3f2f36bb9.jpg http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/busines...0f32eeda39.jpg http://media.gettyimages.com/photos/...re-id143589636 |
Is there a back story to Varosha? Looks like an ideal place in the Med for a city to thrive.
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Quote:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkis...sion_of_Cyprus |
Hashima, Japan??
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Kowloon Walled City definitively doesn't count since it was demolished and it is now a park, with very little of the structures that stood there.
I didn't know about Beichuan. After being leveled by an earthquake and subsequent landslides, the chinese government decided to preserve the ruins as they were, creating a memorial that people could visit. The city was reconstructed some kilometers away. Picture from The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/20...-later/100513/ https://cdn.theatlantic.com/assets/m...jpg?1420508136 Pictures from amusing planet http://www.amusingplanet.com/2014/06...arthquake.html You can see some semi destroyed buildings with stabilizing supports, informative billboards and wooden paths for visitors to walk through the ruins. I think it is scaring to think that there should be maybe hundreds of bodies still buried under all those debris. http://lh5.ggpht.com/-iwRcZi8o7bY/U5...jpg?imgmax=800 http://lh6.ggpht.com/-J57fqdzcOq8/U5...jpg?imgmax=800 http://lh3.ggpht.com/-mB186-uYGnE/U5...jpg?imgmax=800 http://lh3.ggpht.com/-ZX1ss84WQzI/U5...jpg?imgmax=800 http://lh4.ggpht.com/-F88BzDySuMY/U5...jpg?imgmax=800 http://lh3.ggpht.com/-ncYgCo4kfQI/U5...jpg?imgmax=800 http://lh6.ggpht.com/-Gq1HiYWs6iM/U5...jpg?imgmax=800 http://lh5.ggpht.com/-Z58uEiqhejk/U5...jpg?imgmax=800 Pictures from The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/20...-later/100513/ Visitors entering to the destroyed city and people conmemorating an anniversary of the quake. https://cdn.theatlantic.com/assets/m...jpg?1420508141 https://cdn.theatlantic.com/assets/m...jpg?1420508136 https://cdn.theatlantic.com/assets/m...jpg?1420508138 https://cdn.theatlantic.com/assets/m...jpg?1420508146 https://cdn.theatlantic.com/assets/m...jpg?1420508144 https://cdn.theatlantic.com/assets/m...jpg?1420508139 The earthquake triggered landslides that changed the flow of some rivers, like this one that goes through a tunnel and then over a destroyed bridge before spiling out in a waterfall. https://cdn.theatlantic.com/assets/m...jpg?1420508146 |
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Thats freaking fascinating. |
Too Interesting!
It is cool posts like this that makes me love this site! Thanks!
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Great post!
Amazing how close they let people get to buildings. |
I'd love to tour these ruins! Fascinating.
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very cool. Add it to my itinerary on my next trip to China.
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That is bizarre. I never heard of Beichuan either. The river running over the partially destroyed bridge...crazy.
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I couldn't find the ruins of Beichuan when looking on google earth...
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How about Villaggio Coppola, Italy? Though technically not 100% abandoned, I'd think the Parco Saraceno area qualifies. According to this New York Times article:
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In 2010, those Chinese ghost cities were certainly not a myth, its only been in recent years that they've started to fill up.
Kangbashi New District in Ordos had for years less than 10% of its anticipated population, although now its almost full (according to some). Then again, there are still articles from 2017 focusing on those same ghost cities that are said to be filling up. http://www.businessinsider.com/china...-being-built-1 |
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