Leaving It All Behind - When Modern Cities Become Ghost Towns

By Kate Katharina Ferguson: Urban researchers in Berlin are exploring an eerie phenomenon -- the modern ghost town. From a deserted Cypriot holiday resort to a brand new Chinese city devoid of inhabitants, they are asking why people abandon their communities and exploring the stories that make these empty places so compelling.

The Japanese island of Hashima was once among the most densely populated areas in the world. But with the decline of the coal industry, the island was deserted in the 1970s. Now history enthusiasts like to explore it in hopes of discovering remnants of the mining town it once was. The desolate ruins of the settlement also inspire filmmakers to replicate the haunting setting in their movies.

Hashima is just one example of a number of modern "ghost towns" around the world that has drawn the attention of urban researchers, who opened an exhibition on the topic on Thursday in the German capital of Berlin.

Neft Dashlari is another. An artificial settlement off the coast of Azerbaijan, it was constructed by the Soviets after World War II, when the state was facing a major oil shortage. Having found a large oil deposit 42 kilometers off the Azeri coast, officials decided to build a town to accommodate the rig workers, erecting motorways and housing on top of huge steel posts. But now, as reserves near depletion, the settlement is beginning to resemble a deserted scene from a science fiction film.

Laundry Still on the Line

Ghost towns are not only the result of deindustrialization, though. Human error and conflict can also rob a community of life. Former Cypriot beach resort Varosha lies abandoned as a result of the Turkish invasion in 1974, which led its entire population to flee the area. Tables in deserted homes remain set for a meal and laundry still hangs on lines near the long stretches of abandoned beach.

Accidents and natural disasters also cause people to desert their homes. An underground mine fire still burning after it began in Centralia, Pennsylvania in the early 1960s has forced all but a handful of residents out. Just seven resolute inhabitants remain living there today without infrastructure and electricity.

Ghost cities are certainly not a new phenomenon, though. In just one of many such occurences, a change of climate around 1400 is believed to have led to the abandonment of the prosperous ancient city of Angkor in Cambodia, which boasted an advanced water system and sophisticated international relations.

But perhaps even more striking are the existence of newly constructed cities that sit nearly empty, like Ordos in China, which has been described as the "best kept ghost town in the world." A modern city designed for 300,000, with street lamps run by wind turbines and freshly-laid asphalt, it now houses no more than 5,600 people, predominantly gardeners and builders who came for well-paid seasonal work.

Emotional Connection

Brigitte Schultz, urban researcher and editor of German architecture magazine Bauwelt, attributes the fascination with ghost towns to an emotional, rather than an intellectual connection to the phenomenon.

"I think people can connect to these stories," she told SPIEGEL ONLINE at the opening of the exhibition featuring photographs of ghost towns around the world at the Architecture Museum at Berlin's Technical University on Thursday. "The tales aren't supposed to be didactic," said Schultz, who also curated the show. "Often they remind us of our humanity. Take the case of Centralia, for example. Here are seven people who say, 'No, this is our home. We will not go,' even if that means living without roads and electricity."

Museum head Dr. Hans-Dieter Nägelke asserted architecture represents the "essence of a person." Taking a look around the museum's exterior, where tufts of grass were sprouting wildly from in between slabs of concrete, he quipped that Berlin reminded him of some places featured in the exhibition.

"These ghost towns make us wonder how long we will all be here," he said. "A thriving city can turn into a ghost town much faster than we imagine."

Source

Dire Straits - Telegraph Road

Lyrics:

A long time ago came a man on a track
walking thirty miles with a pack on his back
and he put down his load where he thought it was the best
made a home in the wilderness
he built a cabin and a winter store
and he ploughed up the ground by the cold lake shore
and the other travellers came riding down the track
and they never went further, no, they never went back
then came the churches then came the schools
then came the lawyers then came the rules
then came the trains and the trucks with their loads
and the dirty old track was the telegraph road

Then came the mines - then came the ore
then there was the hard times then there was a war
telegraph sang a song about the world outside
telegraph road got so deep and so wide
like a rolling river. . .

And my radio says tonight it's gonna freeze
people driving home from the factories
there's six lanes of traffic
three lanes moving slow. . .

I used to like to go to work but they shut it down
I got a right to go to work but there's no work here to be found
yes and they say we're gonna have to pay what's owed
we're gonna have to reap from some seed that's been sowed
and the birds up on the wires and the telegraph poles
they can always fly away from this rain and this cold
you can hear them singing out their telegraph code
all the way down the telegraph road

You know I'd sooner forget but I remember those nights
when life was just a bet on a race between the lights
you had your head on my shoulder you had your hand in my hair
now you act a little colder like you don't seem to care
but believe in me baby and I'll take you away
from out of this darkness and into the day
from these rivers of headlights these rivers of rain
from the anger that lives on the streets with these names
'cos I've run every red light on memory lane
I've seen desperation explode into flames
and I don't want to see it again. . .

From all of these signs saying sorry but we're closed
all the way down the telegraph road

Everybody's jumping on the circus train.
Some jump high, some jump off again.
And the razzmatazz is rolling, women folk unveiled.
All truths to light, all crosses nailed.
Aiming high where the eagle circles,
where he keeps his tail feathers clean.
And wonders "Am I still a free bird?
Or just a part of the machine".

They hitch their covered wagons and they roll out west.
Politics in the pockets of their Sunday best.
Shaking hands, kissing babies, for all that they're worth.
they promise you gold, promise heaven on earth.
Still, that old bald eagle circles,
it's not the first time that he's seen
his reflection in the eyes of innocence.
He's become just another part of the machine,
part of the machine.

I wish I had an eagle like you
to look up to.
He could be my wings to fly in a big bird sky
up above the whole machine.
Part of the machine.
Part of the machine.

Smart guys aren't running they're home and dry.
Up in the mountains where the eagle flies.
They wouldn't take that job offered on a plate.
They got to fly with the eagle, and he won't wait.
Looking down on the smoke and the factories
till the truth creeps up unseen.
They see themselves in the faces of their children
and realize they too are part of the machine.
Part of the machine.

I wish I had an eagle like you
to wake up to.
He could be my wings to fly
in a big bird sky, hey
let's be part of the machine.
Part of the machine...