Picturing Urban China in Ruin: “Ghost City” Photography and Speculative Urbanization

Abstract

In recent years, the world has been captivated by the construction of so-called "ghost cities" across China. Reporters and scholars have delved into this topic at length. This article is concerned specifically with the photographic imagery that has been central to the ghost city phenomenon. It provides a close read of photographic work on ghost cities by three Western photographers: Michael Christopher Brown, Kai Caemmerer, and Tong Lam. This article situates these photographers' images within the globally popular genre of ruin photography, and assesses their significance in terms of representing ghost cities as "hyperobjects," fragments that refer to much larger, world-shaping forces. Figured as hyperobjects, ghost cities relate visually to urban transformations at local and supra-local scales, providing a critical window upon planetary urbanization and its varied regional and local manifestations.

Of Other Dreamlands: Vernacular Adaptation, Urban Exploration, and Alternative Spectacles in China's Abandoned Themed Spaces

“…In this article, Figures 2–6 detail the types of alternative spectacles displayed in theme park and mega‐event rubble. Ruin exploration and fieldwork photography constitute methods for the study of Chinese urban ruins, raising useful and critical representations of the urban landscape (Lam 2021b; Ren 2014; Woodworth 2020). As a form of notetaking, I created a photo blog where readers can leave comments, opening a space of dialogue on ruins in China 2 .…”

“…After the emergence of the real‐estate and construction boom in China, various forms of ruins, rubble, and derelict buildings became ubiquitous in the cityscape: demolished neighbourhoods (Ren 2014), former industrial complexes, abandoned cultural or leisure facilities, failed projects, unfinished or vacant buildings in China's “ghost cities” (Shepard 2015; Sorace and Hurst 2016; Woodworth 2020). Urban ruins have been conceptualised as heterotopic heritage sites (Wieczorek 2019), as “postsocialist China's dystopic dreamscapes” (Lam 2014, 2020), and as “utopian” art collectives, in the case of punk artist Mai Dan's informal community set in a derelict building in Wuhan (Amar 2022:284–297).…”

Locations, city connectivity and innovation zones in China: a dynamic perspective of knowledge community

“…A unified approach across the innovation zone and the wider city and region helped the studied innovation zones to realize the full potential of the regional infrastructure and to support wider competitive advantages at the whole city level. This wider approach helped to avoid the risk of building “ghost cities” with buildings but little true economic activity, as documented in literature (Woodworth, 2020). We recommend this approach to integrate innovation zone management and wider city and regional economic development and management for innovation zones in other emerging economies as a way to build a stronger set of institutions and collaborations.…”

Geographies of infrastructure III: Infrastructure with Chinese characteristics

“…The latter was built to house 1 million people, for the expansion of a city of 1.6 million, has just 30,000 residents, and its debt may be as much as 400 million Yuan (US$61 billion) (Jiang et al, 2017: 448). For many authors, these ghost cities are symbolic of ‘larger world shaping forces’ (Woodworth, 2020: 233). For others, the picture is more complicated.…”