Hangzhou hosts the largest experiment of vertical coexistence in the world: total comfort, but with a price to pay
Hospitals, supermarkets, hairdressers, restaurants and even a swimming pool. No, we are not talking about a metropolis, but only one gigantic building: the Regent International Apartment Complexin the heart of Qianjiang Century Citythe central district of Hangzhou, a Chinese megalopolis of over 11 million inhabitants.
With its 204 meters high and up to 39 floors (depending on the side), this architectural giant is the largest experiment of collective coexistence ever attempted in China: currently it houses about 20,000 residents, but its capacity even reaches 30,000 people. Initially designed as a luxury hotel, the complex has been transformed into a real “vertical city” of residential apartments, intended for professionals, managers, university students and graduates.
The signature behind this project is of Alicia Loothe designer who contributed to the creation of the famous seven -star hotel Singapore Sands. The result is a work that oscillates between iconic and dystopian: buildings connected progressively to create a unique structure, built in a few months on the ruins of old slums demolished by the bulldozers.
The figures are clear: a windowless studio apartment can be rented for about 1,500 RMB per month (about 191 euros), while the most spacious units, complete with a balcony, come to cost 4,000 RMB (about 509 euros). Regent International aims at the luxury segment, and although it was born in one of the poorest areas of Hangzhou, today it is a symbol of that radical transformation that post-capitalist China has experienced since the 1980s to today.
Inside the complex there is everything you could want to never set foot outside the door: commercial areas with supermarkets and shops of all kinds on the lower floors, while the upper ones host the residences. There is no shortage of restaurants, bars, beauty centers, barbers, and even an internal hospital. Life flows in the name of maximum comfort and total comfort, with common areas where to socialize and recreational areas that are always accessible.
But it is not only a question of luxury: the Regent International also boasts an imprint of sustainability, thanks to solar energy systems, collection and recycling systems of rainwater and homes equipped with smart home technology, control of biometric access and cutting -edge safety devices. For some, this makes it “the most sustainable building in the world”.
It is no coincidence that the structure is compared to places like Whittierthe town of Alaska where all 272 inhabitants live in the same building, or to Torre di David of Caracas, another iconic skyscraper that has become a refuge for thousands of people.
Yet behind the sparkling facade of Regent International, shadows and contradictions are also hidden. On the one hand, extreme self -sufficiency offers unparalleled comfort. On the other, however, it raises questions about mental health and social relations of the residents, who can find themselves living in a state of total isolation, cut out not only by the rest of Hangzhou, but also from the neighborhood immediately outside the walls of the complex.
Also, as in a real miniature city, Here too there is a rigid social hierarchy: The type of apartment and the position inside the building determine access to certain services and privileges, in a microcosm that reflects the inequalities of the outside world.
China, with its hunger for unbridled urbanization and continuous vertical expansion, thus offers us a cross -section of what could be the future of the metropolis: cities inside buildings, lives entirely experienced without ever crossing the home threshold, between shaving modernity and disturbing questions about the deepest sense of living.
