These Fake Cities in the United States Have Very Real Purposes

Whether fake cities are built for special training or military use, they have a unique place in military history. Many fake cities have popped up in war history such as a fake Paris built at the end of World War I, which was created to fool German bombers to protect the place from bombing raids. The following are some of the sites in the United States that are considered fake cities.

A 32-acre site in Ann Arbor, Michigan called M city is a simulated small town that was built to help test driverless cars. It's a suburban replica with blocks of fake buildings and streets.

According to Curbed, The Center for Innovation, Testing and Evaluation (CITE) is a fake 26-square-mile simulated small town that is roughly the size of Bennington, Vermont. It was built in the New Mexico desert as a functional lab for product innovation.

Constructed in 1987, Hogan's Alley is a fake town that serves as a living classroom for future federal agents. It boasts everything from a restaurant, to a bank and to a barbershop.

Fort Irwin in the Mojave Desert in California (rough the size of Rhode Island) offered a training ground for troops for decades.

The Mars Desert Research Station in Hanksville, UT focuses on a very futuristic concept of community which runs a series of test missions that will aid humanity when it eventually lands on Mars.

The Nevada Test Site (Survival Town) has a series of fake towns that sprung across the desert in the Yucca Flats. It was built by the Army in the 1950s to help test the effects of large-scale nuclear blasts on structures.

The James J. Rowley Training Center was created in a 500-acre site which serves as an official training ground for the U.S. Secret Service and provides obstacle courses and fake buildings for training missions, including a replica of Marine One.

As the technological advances have created diversionary developments, the idea of building massive structures for training and practice (whether for soldiers or tech companies wanting to give a test run for driverless cars), means there is a necessity to build simulated cities, according to The Needs.