Why do these failed paradises exist in Hong Kong?

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Setting foot onto Sea Ranch, it's hard to believe that this beautiful beachside development is only an hour by boat from Hong Kong's Island's zinging financial district.

Nestled on the southern coast of Lantau -- the largest outlying island in Hong Kong -- these spacious homes were designed to form an idyllic millionaire's village. The Sea Ranch's apartments all offer ocean views and quick access to the beach.

The Sea Ranch's apartments all offer ocean views and quick access to the beach.

But that dream failed.

In previous decades, when occupancy was at a nadir, Sea Ranch was described by some as having a post apocalyptic atmosphere.

Still today, there are no shops, restaurants, or medical facilities. The last ferry shuttling residents out of the complex departs at 10:15 pm on a weeknight. There isn't even a road link.

But in Hong Kong, Sea Ranch isn't alone.

There are similar failed "paradises" -- remote ocean-side communities offering space, peace and lowers rents which simply have failed to attract residents -- across the special administrative region of China.

In a city where urban housing costs on average $1,578 per square foot, why have people been so reluctant to commute to more idyllic, spacious surrounds?

A millionaire's paradise

Unveiled in 1979, Sea Ranch was built with Hong Kong's corporate senior executives in mind.

"Sea Ranch was built as an exclusive millionaires' paradise, to very high standards," says Richard Harris, whose father -- a UK native who arrived in 1970 to work as a professor of political science at the University of Hong Kong -- was among the first to purchase a property there.

Harris says his father paid about $38,642 -- "cheap even then" -- for an apartment of 1,800 square feet (167 square meters).

"It was like a country club. You could sail a boat or canoe from the beach. There was a Chinese restaurant, a Western restaurant, and a coffee shop by the pool, which was the biggest private swimming pool in Hong Kong. My kids learned how to swim in it."

Hong Kong real estate developer Hutchison, which became Hutchison Whampoa in 1980, described the development as "a get-away-from-it-all resort club" in a promotional brochure.

DB has attracted a community of residents who are appreciate its abundance of outdoor spaces and laid-back lifestyle. As of 2011, the development had a population of more than 12,000 people.

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