This book examines failed new city proposals in Australia to understand the hurdles – environmental, societal, and economic – that have curtailed such visions. The lessons from these relative failures are important because, if projections for Australia’s 21st century population growth are borne out, we will need to build new cities this century. This is particularly the case in northern Australia, where the federal government projects a four-fold increase in population in the next four decades. The book aims that, when we commence 21st century new city dreaming, we have learnt from the mistakes of the past and, are not doomed to repeat them.

Featuring everything from sports stadiums to shopping malls, hundreds of new cities in China stand empty, with hundreds more set to be built by 2030. Between now and then, the country's urban population will leap to over one billion, as the central government kicks its urbanization initiative into overdrive. In the process, traditional social structures are being torn apart, and a rootless, semi-displaced, consumption orientated culture rapidly taking their place. Ghost Cities of China is an enthralling dialogue driven, on-location search for an understanding of China's new cities and the reasons why many currently stand empty.

Digging beneath the sun-baked soil, Shane Thoms uncovers the modern ruins scattered over this arid continent and reveals a series of beautifully broken abodes hiding in the crevices of the Great Southern Land.

So, how's my gap year going? Is it giving me a taste of the ghost-hunting business or is it just dumping me into situations where I could end up dead, or worse? Lingerers. Moaners. Thugs. Weepers. So many ghosts. Not enough graveyard shifts in a night. When an extreme ghost plague descends on the city, Anton and Rani must work overtime to keep the city safe and to find the source of the new aggressive ghost outbreak. And it amps up to another level after ghost hunters become the hunted. Anton and Rani will need all their wits and wiles about them if they are to manage the ghost influx, get to the truth about the Elsewhere and navigate the night with all their limbs intact. Graveyard Shift in Ghost Town is thoroughly entertaining and full of nail-biting ghostly action and adventure.

Other cultures have lost civilisations, we have ghost towns. Australian landscapes are littered with the half-buried remains of once thriving towns. The renowned pioneering spirit of settler society often faltered under the onslaught of changed circumstances--mine yields that declined, industry that failed and the end of penal colonies. Some towns are in ruins today, while others have become tourist destinations, such as Port Douglas, Port Arthur and Oodnadatta. This extensively researched book delves into the stories of these ghost towns--rich with memories of turmoil, perseverance, resistance and dogged optimism

Explore the mystery and beauty of historic ghost towns from Illinois to California with this gorgeously illustrated guide to America’s favorite highway. The quintessential boom-and-bust highway of the American West, Route 66 once hosted a thriving array of boom towns built around oil wells, railroad stops, cattle ranches, resorts, stagecoach stops, and gold mines. Join Route 66 expert Jim Hinckley as he tours more than twenty-five ghost towns, rich in stories and history, complemented by gorgeous sepia-tone and color photography by Kerrick James. Also includes directions and travel tips for your ghost-town explorations along Route 66.

Once upon a simpler time, hand-painted and hand-crafted signs brought color and vibrancy to Australian towns and cities -- advertising everything from dining rooms, milk bars, and CWA halls to Peter's ice cream, oatmeal, stout, Chinese restaurants, and Shelley's famous drinks. Now faded and slowly disappearing, they tell the story of life over two centuries, recording a distinctly Australian vernacular language. A keen photographer of the everyday, Brady Michaels has recorded an impressive array of signs from across Australia -- from the earliest ads for household goods and services, to more recent but now defunct video lending libraries and internet cafés. These beautifully composed and nostalgic images are accompanied by brief commentary by Dale Campisi, who ponders the significance of these fading and disappearing signs -- artful, kitsch, and at times hilarious -- lovingly preserved through Brady's lens.