Whether built for testing, special training, or as a military ruse, fake cities have a unique place in military and technological history. The infamous Potemkin Village may be one of the first and most notable examples, but numerous faux cities made as diversions or for security have popped up throughout the history of warfare, from a fake Paris constructed at the end of WWI to fool German bombers to suburban camouflage applied atop U.S. factories during WWII to protect them from bombing raids. While technological advances have made the idea of diversionary developments a thing of the past, the idea of creating massive spaces for training and practice (whether for soldiers facing overseas deployment or tech companies wanting to give driverless cars a test run), means there's still a need for simulated cities. Here's a tour of some of the more intriguing and unorthodox sites in the United States.
From tech centers and training bases to nuclear ghost towns >>