In 2005, China began a massive land reclamation project in the Bohai Sea with the goal of creating an ecological model city that could eventually house 300,000 people. The project involved dredging the seabed to create 310 square kilometers of new land, with the first 12 square kilometers completed by March 28, 2006. However, two decades later, only 30,000 people have settled in the area, just 10 percent of the original target. Official materials described the city as "the city of the future, the information city, the ecological city, the happiness city," positioning it as one of China's first large-scale eco-urban initiatives. The project was meant to highlight China's expertise in land reclamation and attract foreign investment and new residents. However, by 2014, only a few thousand people lived there. The city's wide, empty streets, brand-new but unoccupied buildings, and darkened shop windows created an eerie, abandoned look. This situation is not unique to this city; similar cases, like Ordos Kangbashi, have also been labeled "ghost cities." The lack of jobs, commerce, and social activities has discouraged families from settling there permanently, leading to a cycle of low population and economic stagnation. The environmental consequences of the project have been considerable. Dredging and land reclamation altered the seabed's topography, leading to erosion and sedimentation as deep as 0.80 meters within 500 meters of the reclamation sites. Between 2004 and 2010, fish density dropped by 22.66 percent, and the density of fish eggs fell dramatically, from 5.42 to 0.13 individuals per cubic meter per hour. Similarly, the number of zoobenthos—organisms that live on the seabed—decreased from 213 individuals per square meter before construction to just 35 in 2010. The story of Caofeidian highlights the challenges of urban planning that is disconnected from the actual needs of the population. Simply building quickly and on a large scale does not ensure that people will move there, no matter how appealing the architectural designs may be. The project serves as a cautionary tale for urban planners worldwide, emphasizing that a city is not just built with dredgers and concrete, but also needs jobs, commerce, and real reasons for people to settle there.