They also lack various things highly correlated with presence of building codes, such us road access, electricity, running water, clean water, water, food variety, healthcare, ER/ambulance, fire protection/prevention, crime protection/prevention, schooling, after-school activities, nightlife, pool for potential mates, (edit: was supposed to be "pool of potential mates", but in this context both work), and in general, people.

Up here in Alaska, land can be had very cheap (but construction costs are high), particularly if you don't care to be on the road system.

It's not building codes, it's zoning/permitting. You can't just toss up an structure and live in it without going through some approval process with your county/city.