Surreal photos of China's failed 'city of the future'

Raphael Olivier

The once flush-with-cash town of Ordos, China, has been called the world's largest ghost town. 

Roughly 15 years ago, a coal-mining boom led local government to throw money at urban development there, in the hopes of creating a new epicenter of culture, economy, and politics. 

Ordos New Town — also known as Kangbashi — would hold 1 million residents and be known for its massive conceptual-architecture projects, residential towers, and state-of-the-art sports venues.

But high property taxes and poor construction deterred people from settling in Ordos. Today, though some 100,000 people call it home, most of the city sits unused, wasting away.

"The whole city feels like a post-apocalyptic space station straight out of a science fiction movie," says photographer Raphael Olivier, who captured the city in a series titled, "Ordos - A Failed Utopia."

Olivier shared some of his spectacular images with Tech Insider. You can check out more on his website.

Located in the remote province of Inner Mongolia, Ordos sits on one-sixth of China's coal reserves — making it an attractive center for development.

Source: The Huffington Post

In the late '90s and early 2000s, private mining companies got the rights to dig into those deposits. The influx of new business generated lots of tax revenue.

Source: The New York Times

"The local government decided to build this overly ambitious city from scratch," Olivier says. In 2005, it began investing hundreds of millions into infrastructure and real estate.

Source: The Huffington Post