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.
The Regent International Apartment Complex is nearly 40 storeys tall
The enormous building snakes through the city of Qianjiang
The entire building is designed for people to live their whole lives inside
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.
39 floors tower over visitors and residents of the dense urban high-rise that more than 20,000 people call home
Made up of over 5,000 individual flats, the snaking building takes up the ground space of several city blocks
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.
Flats with balcony views can be rented for as much as £414 per month
The building was designed initially as a luxury hotel
The building employs sophisticated heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems to limit energy usage
The tower block was designed with luxury in mind
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.
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