“Unborn Cities” is a body of work that explores the architectural structures and physical growth of new cities located in the middle of China.

The project revolves around three new cities: The Kangbashi District, a subdivision in the city of Ordos in Inner Mongolia; the Yujiapu Financial District near Tianjin; and the Meixi Lake development near Changsha.

Unlike the urban model of many Western cities, these areas are built to the point of near completion years before they become populated. My images revolve around the shifted sense of reality felt in a city that has yet to be inhabited by the people it was built for.

Devoid of human scale and lacking the marks of history, these structures represent the origins of a future metropolis that will soon be home to millions. At present, however, they seem more like architectural models than places for living.

—Kai Caemmerer