Ordos is one of the twelve major subdivisions of Inner Mongolia, China. It lies within the Ordos Plateau of the Yellow River. Although mainly rural, Ordos is administered as a prefecture-level city. Its population was 2,153,638 as of 2020 census and its built-up area made up of Ejin Horo Banner and Kangbashi District was home to 366,779 inhabitants, as Dongsheng District is not conurbated yet.
Ordos is known for its recently undertaken large scale government projects including most prominently the new Kangbashi District, an urban district planned as a massive civic mall with abundant monuments, cultural institutions and other showpiece architecture. It was the venue for the 2012 Miss World Final.
When it was newly built, the streets of the new Kangbashi district did not have much activity, and the district was frequently described as a "ghost city" by several Western media outlets. However, by 2017, Kangbashi had become more populated with a resident population of 153,000 and around one-third of apartments occupied. In a Forbes article, Wade Shepard noted that "...of the 40,000 apartments that had been built in the new district since 2004, only 500 are still on the market.