Thames Town, Songjiang, Shanghai
An English-style town completed around 2006 as part of 'One City, Nine Towns', a plan to develop the suburbs of Shanghai. On a site of about one square kilometer stand cobbled streets, rows of Victorian-style houses, red telephone boxes and a church modeled on one in Bristol. It was planned for 10,000 residents, but for many years its population has stayed in the 2,000s. Tourists and wedding photo crews come to the center, while the residential blocks are closed off behind gates, and the farther down the streets you go, the fainter the sense of people becomes. A townscape that resembles somewhere, yet is nowhere.
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