The phenomenon of ghost housing projects in the Global South exposes the disconnect between “dreamscapes of modernity” and lived reality. These urban projects, driven by speculative or state-led interests, fail to achieve their envisioned outcomes. This has led to unfinished housing development projects in rapidly developing cities, abandoned housing in shrinking cities, and unoccupied, often uninhabitable residential megaprojects in ghost towns, which serve as dynamic sites reflecting the unintended consequences of entrepreneurial governance. Drawing on case studies from urban China and Malaysia – namely, Zhengzhou, Hegang, and Forest City – this paper reveals how unfinished, abandoned, or unoccupied developments as materializations of failed future-making and highlights broader issues of social and economic inequality and the contested terrains of urban fictional expectations. Collectively, these cases highlight the socio-spatial consequences of unregulated urban growth, which has resulted in the paradox of “homeless homeownership”, a condition where individuals legally own homes but cannot take possession of or inhabit them. These urban failures illuminate the inherent structural deficiencies within the prevalent governance framework, raising critical theoretical questions concerning the long-term viability of state entrepreneurialism as an approach to housing provision and urban development. These findings call for context-specific, community-centered approaches that prioritize long-term sustainability and resilience.
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