It doesn’t have to be this way.

Mainstream media made fun of China for building “ghost cities” in the middle of nowhere.

Now, those cities are full of people.

“Chinese ghost cities are finally stirring to life”

https://norcalapa.org/2021/09/chinese-ghost-cities-are-final...

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-09-01/chinese-g...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underoccupied_developments_in_...

First Edit: removed unnecessary snark.

Second Edit: Added sources.