China's empty eco-cities: Where the future is a blank slate

Tianjin Eco-city is slated to be a model of sustainable development.

As part of its plan to move tens of millions of people out of the countryside, China is building hundreds of brand-new cities but many of its green buildings still echo like gymnasiums.

Wang Lin needed a change. The crushing air pollution and gridlock traffic in his hometown Hangu, an industrial district in China’s northern metropolis of Tianjin, made him anxious and sometimes sick.