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Daily Mail
18-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
20,000 crammed into 'mega-town' apartment complex where residents need never venture outside
A mega Chinese hotel built for globe-trotting entrepreneurs has become a city within a city for 20,000 permanent residents. The enormous S-shaped apartment complex in Qianjiang Century City sprawls over 39 floors and has everything found in a typical town - from supermarkets to swimming pools. Comprising 5,000 individual suites, the snaking building covers several city blocks and accommodates everyone from laborers renting windowless boxes to large apartments with balconies and city views appealing to the middle classes. SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO The Regent International Apartment Complex is designed to be its own mega-town, stuffed with so many amenities that, theoretically, a resident need never step foot outside. Want to provide for your family? Get a job in one of the countless shops that exist to serve. Want to get some exercise? Go to one of the many gyms and swimming pools inside? Need some food? There are dozens of supermarkets inside to do your weekly grocery run. The building was designed in 2013 by celebrated architect Alicia Loo as a six-star luxury hotel designed to serve the wealthy businesspeople flying in and out of the city. Visitors can still see these influences, with the lobby being supported by thick marble colonnades and lit up by intricate chandeliers. The complex was later repurposed as an extensive housing block for the ordinary person. As a result, it became much more purpose-focused, and integrated spaces including schools, hospitals, supermarkets and gyms, with the aim of creating an entirely self-sufficient space for its residents. Prices vary massively. The cheapest units are windowless boxes in the center that can be rented for just 1,500 Chinese yuan ($200) per month, while the largest properties, which each have their own balconies and city views, can be rented for 4,000 Chinese yuan ($550). Residents can easily go from one side to the other without ever leaving the building, meaning that anyone who wants to change up their routine only needs to go left instead of right to go to a completely different part of the building. The building draws energy from solar panels, and is able to recycle rainwater and graywater to reduce the impact it has on the planet. It also has sophisticated heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems to limit energy usage. On top of this, it is considered incredibly safe given that it is covered by an extensive CCTV camera network and employs a complex biometric access control system. But having the watchful eye of the Chinese state forever scrutinizing you and your family raises serious questions about how good living in the city-building would be. There is also little to no real privacy, with neighbors on all sides and CCTV cameras on every corner. On top of this, the high density of people would likely lead to high noise pollution, which studies have repeatedly shown is linked to poor quality of life. And there's the question of how to deal with such a stratified class system, with high earners in massive flats and panoramic views of the city living so close to people with few prospects in a small, windowless box. Though Alicia Loo's vision of the enormous building was to foster a sense of community between the 20,000 people who live there, perhaps by keeping everyone together, she has unintentionally made it harder for the residents of the Regent to connect with each other.
Daily Mail
11-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Inside nightmarish Chinese 'mega-town' with 20,000 crammed into one gigantic 675ft-high apartment block
Standing at the foot of the Regent International Apartment Complex, in China 's Qianjiang Century City, it'd be hard not to be totally overwhelmed. 39 floors tower over visitors and residents of the dense urban high-rise that more than 20,000 people call home. What's more, the Regent is designed to be its own mega-town, stuffed with so many amenities that, theoretically, anyone who decides to move there would never have to leave. Want to provide for your family? Get a job in one of the countless shops that exist to serve. Want to get some exercise? Go to one of the many gyms and swimming pools inside? Need some food? There are dozens of supermarkets inside to do your weekly shop. The enormous S-shaped building was initially designed by celebrated architect Alicia Loo as an enormous six-star luxury hotel in 2013, which was meant to serve the fabulously wealthy businesspeople flying in and out of the city. Visitors can still see these influences, with the lobby being supported by thick marble colonnades and lit up by intricate chandeliers. But after it was initially conceived of as an idea, it was repurposed as an extensive housing block for the ordinary person. As a result, it became much more purpose-focused, and integrated spaces including schools, hospitals, supermarkets and gyms, with the aim of creating an entirely self-sufficient space for those who live inside. Made up of over 5,000 individual flats, the snaking building takes up the ground space of several city blocks. Prices vary massively. The cheapest flats are windowless boxes in the centre that can be rented for just 1,500 Chinese Yuan (£155) per month, which the largest properties, which each have their own balconies and views of the city, can be rented for 4,000 Chinese Yuan (£414). Residents can easily go from one side to the other without ever leaving the building, meaning that anyone who wants to change up their routine only needs to go left instead of right to go to a completely different part of the city-building. The building itself is assisted by solar panels, and is able to recycle rainwater and greywater to reduce the impact it has on the planet. It also employs sophisticated heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems to limit energy usage. On top of this, it is considered incredibly safe given that it is covered by an extensive CCTV camera network and employs a complex biometric access control system. But having the watchful eye of the Chinese state forever scrutinising you and your family raises serious questions about how good living in the city-building would be. Having little to no real privacy, with neighbours on all sides and CCTV cameras on every corner, would drive anyone mad. On top of this, the high density of people would likely lead to high noise pollution, which studies have repeatedly shown reduce life quality. And there's the question of how to deal with such a stratified class system, with high earners in massive flats and panoramic views of the city living so close to people with few prospects in a small, windowless box. Though Alicia Loo's vision of the enormous building was to foster a sense of community between the 20,000 people who live there, perhaps by keeping everyone together, she has unintentionally made it harder for the residents of the Regent to connect with each other.
