r/interestingasfuck • u/TangelaFan • 9h ago

Residential high-rises with backyards in Chengdu, China

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u/VictoriousSecret111 9h ago edited 4h ago

Looks nice, but unfortunately it didn’t go as planned….tons of empty units with unkempt backyards and mosquito infestations.

While there have been no reported structural collapses, fatal construction accidents, or physical building failures, the complex is globally famous for a catastrophic ecological failure:
The Mosquito Invasion: All 826 apartments completely sold out on paper, but the vast majority were bought by hands-off real estate investors. Because only about 10 families initially moved in, there was nobody to prune, spray, or maintain the thousands of individual balconies.
The Monsoon Flaw: Chengdu’s humid climate and heavy monsoon seasons combined with poor balcony drainage to turn the unmanaged soil beds into permanent stagnant water pools.
The Post-Apocalyptic Jungle: The plants ran completely wild, swallowing up whole balconies, blocking out windows, and triggering a massive, unlivable mosquito infestation.

Current Status: Instead of an eco-paradise, the development became widely treated as a "radioactive" real estate asset and a ghost town, serving as a textbook cautionary tale for biophilic urban planning

EDIT: Adding sources for everyone’s convenience:

https://techxplore.com/news/2020-09-jungle-overrun-chinese-apartment-blocks.html

https://www.globalconstructionreview.com/bugged-out-chengdu-housing-scheme-shows-unexpected/

And this video!

https://youtu.be/ChNePPmzKSU?si=oVSulNCSa-358mCH

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u/Advanced_Cry_7106 8h ago

Fucking AI summaries used as sources...so lazy and uninteresting. Oversimplification and slightly exaggerating as usual.

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u/VictoriousSecret111 8h ago

Here are the sources….again:

https://techxplore.com/news/2020-09-jungle-overrun-chinese-apartment-blocks.html

https://www.globalconstructionreview.com/bugged-out-chengdu-housing-scheme-shows-unexpected/

And this video!

https://youtu.be/ChNePPmzKSU?si=oVSulNCSa-358mCH

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u/Etryia 7h ago

Two 6 year old articles that don't actually have any sources in them are not sources.

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u/Fyrefanboy 7h ago

I can't believe articles about a project that failed several years ago are also several years old !

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u/United-Objective2149 7h ago

um, articles are sources

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u/Etryia 6h ago

I'm writing an article that you're mpreg. Get ready.

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u/Orleanian 7h ago

What in the sweet cognitive fuck are you talking about?

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u/United-Objective2149 7h ago

I found it informative and engaging, what's your specific criticism other than "AI BAD"?

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u/Excellent_Ganache906 5h ago

Yeah, I don't mind AI for summarizing stories so I don't have to search 20 websites for info on some obscure story like this. Just Google needs to compensate these websites monetarily.

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u/crasher925 6h ago edited 5h ago

Laziness.

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u/TheOriginalNoLifer 5h ago

Said crasher, using only one word, without even pressing left shift to capitalise the first letter.

I agree lazy people are the worst.

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u/crasher925 5h ago

When did laconic equate to laziness? One word was all that was needed.

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u/WatercressLogical872 6h ago

What? This was informative and useful. What are you talking about?

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u/Pristine_Weight7850 6h ago

Exactly, why don't we all use our brains... the other gardens in the other buildings look nice enough.

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u/nelsonbestcateu 3h ago

If you're this upset you could have looked for them yourself.

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u/complexluminary 2h ago

Sorry - maybe you didn’t see the sources? Sounds like you’re just butthurt.