The ultimate Smart City. Sustainable living. Agenda 21-style “stack ’em and pack ’em.” An experiment in peak efficiency. The “Science of Social Engineering” run amok. Technocrats in China lost their shirt with this huge luxury hotel, so they carved it into tiny apartments to maximize revenue and house as many as 30,000 residents. Some will be born there and never leave.
China is a Technocracy that exports itself around the world to Asia, Africa, South America and even to America.
This is the Chinese town where all 20,000 residents live under one roof – and you never need to go out.
The Regent International apartment building in Qianjiang Century City, Hangzhou’s central business district, is like nothing you’ve ever seen before.
Initially designed as a hotel, this mammoth structure has been turned into thousands of high-end residential apartments.
The S-shaped Regent International now accommodates for up to 30,000 residents, although it’s current inhabitants stand at around the 20,000 mark.
Nonetheless, the remarkable congregation of locals crammed under one roof makes it one of the most densely populated areas in the world.
But the impressive building, which stands at 675ft tall, is more than just a place to call home.
Also located across its 36 to 39 floors, depending on what side of it you’re on, are a variety of amenities and businesses – just like any normal town would have.
Available for the 20,000 residents is a giant food court, as well as swimming pools, barber shops, nail salons, medium-sized supermarkets, and internet cafes.
With everything quite literally on your doorstep, there aren’t many reasons for people to leave the building.
It’s highly likely that some people never step foot outside at all.
The building was inaugurated in 2013 and designed by Alicia Loo, the chief designer of the world’s second seven-star hotel, the Singapore Sands Hotel.
It is said to be primarily occupied by graduates, or students who are about to graduate
Young professionals, such as influencers and those in charge of small businesses, are also popular tenants.
According to an article by Chinese news agency Sina, smaller apartments without windows usually rent for around 1,500 RMB (£167) per month, Oddity Central report.
It’s added that larger units with balconies can rent for up to 4,000 RMB (£445) per month or more.
With more than 260,000 square metres of space on offer, the Regent International building is one of the largest in China.
Pictures and footage of the impressive facility have been doing the rounds on social media, with people left dumbfounded as to how so many people can live in one place.
But the innovative approach to urban living, which has quite literally created a self-contained ecosystem, has garnered plenty of praise.
Having seamlessly blended residential, commercial, and recreational spaces, it’s even been described as “the most sustainable living building on earth” by some.
It bears similarities to the remote Alaskan city of Whittier, where all 272 residents live in the same 14 floor tower.
Located at the top of the Passage Canal, the Begich Towers building has everything a town would have, including a church, a post office, a market, a clinic, a police station and a school.