"In places called ghost cities you find massive, ambitious urbanizing projects that spark investment but don't draw population all at once," says Max Woodworth, an associate professor of geography at Ohio State University who's written extensively on the topic. "The result is a landscape that appears very citylike but without much action in it." China was underurbanized for many years, Woodworth says, and has raced to correct that. But the pace of building often outstrips the rate at which newcomers move in, even with investors snapping up apartments as Chinese home prices rise. As the economy continues its long shift away from agriculture, urbanization and construction have become twin catalysts of China's unparalleled growth. In 1978 just 18% of its population lived in cities; by last year that figure had reached 64%. The country now has at least 10 megacities with more than 10 million residents each, and more than one-tenth of the world's population resides in Chinese cities.
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