Thames Town in Songjiang imitates a typical English town Kangbashi New Area, a district of Ordos City, was intended to house one million people,[11] but soaring property prices and lack of infrastructure deterred residents of Ordos from relocating to the newly built-up area, and it now stands largely deserted.[12] In 2010, the population of Kangbashi was around 20,000 to 30,000, a fraction of its total capacity.
Thames Town in Songjiang District was constructed in 2005 for 5 billion yuan. Like many new towns in China, Thames Town was built with a European theme. In this case, it was named for the UK's Thames River. The stores sometimes take the name of the English store they were copied from. The empty storefronts match the surrounding, unoccupied villa compounds.Thames Town is otherwise notable as a desirable backdrop for wedding photography.[
