7 Billion Humans | National Geographic Magazine: De-Urbanization | Flight to the Cities | Ghost Town | Moscow, Russia

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De-Urbanization | Flight to the Cities | Ghost Town | Moscow, Russia

As people leave the countryside in droves, they leave ghost towns in their wake like this one just outside Moscow. The church is from the 1680s and the granary belongs to a deserted farm in Novo-Tishevoye. These ghost towns are all around Moscow—the population continues to dwindle as everyone who can leave these areas for greater economic opportunity does. In Moscow they are paying women in excess of $10,000 to have a second child. 51% of the world are now living in cities.