China’s ‘Judge Dredd’ like apartment building could be the future of housing

With its towering, multistory building, the Regent International might look like a set piece from Judge Dredd, but the apartment functions a bit more like a town and less like a residential unit. Rather than the engineering marvel of human misery that was Kowloon Walled City, the Regent might be the answer to the growing housing and cost of living crisis millions worldwide face.

What is the TikTok famous ‘Dystopian Apartment?’

Regent International in Qianjiang Century City, Hangzhou might have started as a luxury hotel in the city’s business district, but it has become so much more since its 2013 construction. It’s luxurious design comes from Alicia Loo, the chief designer behind the world’s 2^nd 7-star hotel, the Singapore Sands. The colossal ‘S’ shaped building is 676 feet (206 meters) tall, has up to 39 floors (one half of the apartment is a bit shorter than the other), and contains hundreds of amenities for its more than 20k who call it home.

Residents and visitors can find almost anything their heart desires within the former hotel’s walls. Day-to-day amenities like barbers, grocery stores, cafes, and food courts are widely available. Beyond the necessities, it offers swimming pools, parks, gyms, restaurants, and other leisure amenities. The complex, which is more like a city within a city, emphasizes self-sufficiency, and all that easy access has made it a hot spot for social media influencers, young professionals, small business owners, and recent graduates.

According to some reports, the apartment has ridiculously affordable units. Smaller units with no exterior windows start at around $220 USD. Larger units with balconies or outward-facing windows start at around $550 USD. The self-contained city has been widely featured on TikTok, with some commenters convinced the apartment is the future of housing. Though it doesn’t fit the exact specifics of Arcology, the portmanteau of “ecology” and “architecture”, it checks plenty of boxes. Regent International is densely populated and self-sufficient, cutting down on traffic and carbon emissions from vehicles.

With nearby amenities, it’s like a walkable city. 20,000 people is larger than many rural US towns. All of West Chicago could fit into the hotel’s 260,000 square meters. Still, the freedom afforded by such an easily navigable building is lost on some social media users, who only see the building’s connections to dystopian sci-fi like Judge Dredd, Cyberpunk 2077, and Blade Runner.

“They’re preparing people to live on spaceships,” one TikToker wrote. “I could never. I need my fresh air, tree, grass,” another agreed.

“I could never ever live in that. Hell no I can’t breathe.”

While there were certainly dissenting comments, most are very much in favor of the set up. In a world where owning a home is becoming a pipe dream and the planet is suffering from climate change caused by human activity, most were more than happy to sacrifice some of their wide-open spaces for affordable housing and the apparent luxury. With jobs so near to home, most commenters only saw positives.

“’ ‘Dystopian’ is affordable housing?” one questioned.

“210 for a full sized apartment, with close access to work and groceries? Honestly, it’s better than what I got now,” added another.

“If it’s clean and well maintained THIS IS A GOOD LIVING.”

Some in the comments pointed out that this is hardly a new concept, its just never been executed at such a massive scale. Whittier, Alaska is home to some 200 residents – all of whom live in an aging, 14-story army barracks. Regent International isn’t even the largest Chinese population ever jammed into a small space. Up until 1993, Kowloon Walled City, located in Hong Kong was home to some 33,000 residents. The megacity spanned only 7 acres, contained only 300 buildings, and was forbidden from growing over 14 stories due to a nearby airport. Even with the height restriction, it’s said that sunlight couldn’t even reach the bottommost levels.

Regent International’s towering windows and plentiful amenities look like heaven compared to some of China’s other mass housing projects like “Coffin Apartments.” I’ll take Judge Dredd over District 9 any day.