News this week that southern Sudan is to rebuild its cities in the shape of animals and fruit; Chinese developers plan to construct an imitation Cadaqués, the Costa Brava port that was once home to Salvador Dali, in Xiamen Bay. And these visionaries are by no means the first to get all creative with urban planning. Some schemes are never more than castles in the air, others get built but are demolished by practical-minded authorities (farewell Walled City, we mourn you Sanzhi UFO houses), but nevertheless the world is strewn with fantastical follies, themed towns and surreal cityscapes. Here's our top ten.


Chess City
Kalmykia
A city themed around chess may sound like something dreamt up by Lewis Carroll but the impoverished Republic of Kalmykia has transformed it into reality, albeit a costly one.