MEGALOPOLIS

Chongqing is the largest city in the world, known to (almost) no one, yet it is the protagonist of an extraordinary urban experiment. And the future of China today passes through here

ASIA | CHINA | ECONOMY | ENVIRONMENT

Chongqing (China), after dark some friends explore the rocks along the Yangtze River shoreline with, behind them, the unmistakable silhouette of the Raffles City group of skyscrapers, built in 2019.

The largest city in the world is as big as Ireland but no one has ever heard of it. Named Chongqing, it is a megacity of 34 million people in the centre of China and is the emblem of the fastest urban revolution on the planet. Thirty years ago, the Communist Party decided to unify and populate vast rural areas, a (successful) experiment that has become a symbol of the Chinese ability to reshape the world. Chongqing is China at its best, and its extraordinary development reflects the country's transformation path: in the last 20 years, the city's GDP per capita has increased 16-fold, the rate of urbanisation has doubled, and it has moved from polluting heavy industry to dominance in the automotive and information technology fields.

More cars were produced in Chongqing last year than in France and England combined (2.5 million vehicles, almost half of them electric), while one in three laptops and one in ten motorbikes sold on Earth are made here, in this intricate 82,000 square kilometre labyrinth of concrete and mountains that - born as a thriving port on the Yangtze River - is now the strategic gateway to vast western China. But Chongqing, loved by tourists for its foggy cyberpunk atmospheres, also represents a new model of growth and urbanisation, more focused on sustainability and innovation, green growth and the quality of life of its citizens: here, a flat costs one seventh of what it would cost in Beijing or Shanghai and is twice as big.

Between aerospace and film industry clusters, huge data centres and cutting-edge scientific universities, innovative eco-neighbourhoods and AI-managed smart city projects (all supported by government policies and tax cuts), Chongqing is the Chinese city to watch in the future. That is, tomorrow.

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Chongqing (China), after sunset a group of friends dine outdoors on a meadow along the eastern bank of the Jialing River in Jiangbei District.

Chongqing (China), customers look at products in the new Harmay shop, not far from Time Square and designed by AIM Architecture in 2023.

Chongqing (China), people strolling in Xingfu Plaza in Jiangbei District, with the Dance of Light office skyscraper, designed by architecture firm Aedas, behind left.

Chongqing (China), The Ring shopping centre, located in the central business district of the prestigious New North Zone, is called the first ‘urban natural community’ and includes a botanical garden with 300 types of tropical rainforest plants.

Chongqing (China), a boy tries out the Apple Vision Pro in the Apple shop in the Yuzhong district.

Chongqing (China), students take a rest sitting in the soccer field inside the campus of Chongqing University, Shapingba District.

Chongqing (China), a boy tests an Hima (Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance) electric car at a car dealer. In 2023 Chongqing produced 2.32 million vehicles, the same number of cars as France and the United Kingdom combined, many of which are electric.

Chongqing (China), the eastern bank of the Yangtze River with, behind it, hills, skyscrapers and buildings under construction, seen from the Crystal Corridor, a 250-meter-high “horizontal skyscraper” in the Raffles City complex.

Chongqing (China), two visitors observe one of the courtyards of Luohan Temple, a Buddhist temple in Yuzhong District. Set in a modern urban context, the temple was built between 1064 and 1067 during the Song Dynasty and subsequently remodeled several times.

Chongqing (China), one of the entrances to The Ring shopping center, located in the heart of the prestigious New North Zone business district.

Chongqing (China), citizens observe the meeting of the Yangtze and Jialing rivers just below the complex called Raffles City, consisting of eight skyscrapers in the Yuzhong district and built on the tip of the peninsula at the junction of the two rivers.

Chongqing (China), girls at a wedding break held at the Crystal Corridor, a 250-meter-high “horizontal skyscraper” in the Raffles City complex overlooking the confluence of the Yangtze and Jialing rivers.

Chongqing (China), at Liziba station of subway line two, a visitor has his photo taken at the entrance of a store, decorated like a mysterious and colorful cave. Liziba is the famous station where the subway train enters a 19-story building along subway line two, which has become a destination for thousands of visitors every day.

Chongqing (China), the Yangtze River Cableway grazes a residential building before arriving at the arrival station, on the west coast of the Yangtze River. The attraction is popular with tourists, who queue for hours just to get on the cable car and be able to admire the view from above the river.

Chongqing (China), people walk in People's Square with, behind, the Chongqing People's Auditorium, built between 1951 and 1954 in Yuzhong District.

Chongqing (China), two girls dressed in traditional dress at the entrance to Eling Park, a vast green area in Yuzhong District built in 1909 as the residence of a wealthy businessman, Li Yaoting, and became a public park in 1958.

Chongqing (China), small electric vehicles in the shape of pandas and tigers are used by families to get around the city Zoo, a green lung sandwiched between residential buildings in Jiulongpo District, southwest of the Old Town.

Chongqing (China), citizens walk in underground subway tunnels. The Chongqing Rail Transit carries more than three million passengers every day.

Chongqing (China), girls attend a musical performance in Time Square, the busy and popular city center surrounded by stores of international fashion and jewelry brands.

Chongqing (China), the Yangtze River Cableway crosses the Yangtze River from one bank to the other: the attraction is popular with tourists, who queue for hours just to ride the cable car and be able to admire the view from the top of the river.

Chongqing (China), a covered gallery overlooking a pond in the center of Eling Park, a vast green area in Yuzhong District built in 1909 as the residence of a wealthy businessman, Li Yaoting, and became a public park in 1958.

Chongqing (China), people walk along a stone path in a park not far from Xingfu Plaza in Jiangbei District.

Chongqing (China), two women look at an old panoramic photograph of Chongqing Old Town at the Three Gorges Museum. Upstream of the Three Gorges Dam project, Chongqing has expanded greatly over the past three decades and has become the beachhead for the economic development of China's western regions.

Chongqing (China), a cluster of skyscrapers in the Jiangbei district along the Jialing River, the tributary of the Yangtze River with which it will cross five kilometers further east.

Chongqing (China), children playfully simulate being in the control room of a military submarine in a section dedicated to the Chinese military at the Chongqing Science and Technology Museum.

Chongqing (China), visitors take pictures on the spectacular observation deck, 250 metres high of the Crystal Corridor, a ‘horizontal skyscraper’ in the Raffles City complex overlooking the junction of the Yangtze and Jialing rivers.

Chongqing (China), a girl with a bouquet of flowers on a subway car at Liujiaping station along Line 6.

Chongqing (China), a man walks down a path leading to a recent residential complex built near Liujiaping Station along Metro Line 6 in Nan'an District.

Chongqing (China), a young singer performs playing guitar in the garden of the “Second Lady's Home,” a venue near Guojicun Park and not far from the southern bank of the Jialing River.

Chongqing (China), citizens in the vast square overlooking the point where the Yangtze and Jialing rivers meet: the square is just below the complex called Raffles City, consisting of eight skyscrapers in the Yuzhong district.

Chongqing (China), a man walks among the plants in the complex called Raffles City, consisting of eight skyscrapers and in the Yuzhong district at the tip of the peninsula where the Yangtze and Jialing rivers meet.

Chongqing (China), a group of friends play cards on the street, sitting under a transparent plastic tent along a street in Nan'an district.

Chongqing (China), a family of tourists on an electric boat in a pond in the city Zoo, a green lung sandwiched between residential buildings in Jiulongpo district, southwest of the old town.

Chongqing (China), a doctoral student at work in a classroom at the College of Environment and Ecology, part of Chongqing University, where research is being done on environmental sustainability and and the impact of new pollutants.

Chongqing (China), after dark a man fishes in the waters of the Jialing River in Jiangbei District.

Chongqing (China), a man walks up the stairs of a building overlooking the Jialing River, not far from Liyuchi subway station. The city, particularly in the old town, is built on a series of hills and is built on several levels, reached by stairs or elevators.

Chongqing (China), two lovers embrace in the city subway. Equipped with 12 lines and 312 stations, it has a total length of more than 561 kilometers and carries more than one billion passengers in a year.

Chongqing (China), not far from Eling Park, along the peninsula of the old town, buildings are built on the narrow hills between the two rivers Yangtze and Jialing, generating multiple urban levels.

Chongqing (China), people stroll in the evening in the downtown boulevards, not far from Luohan Temple and in Yuzhong District.

Chongqing (China), a cruise ship docked along a bank of the Yangtze River with, behind it, the buildings of the Longmenhao Residential District.

Chongqing (China), a boy on a break while selling street food on his truck not far from Luohan Temple and in Yuzhong District.

Chongqing (China), along subway line 2 a train enters a 19-story apartment building. Liziba Station was built between the sixth and eighth floors to reclaim space in a hilly city, and today it has become a destination for thousands of tourists who come to photograph it every day.

Chongqing (China), a store of Chinese electric car company Polestar. By 2023 Chongqing will produce 2.32 million vehicles, the same number of cars as France and the United Kingdom combined, many of them electric.

Chongqing (China), workers are preparing the entrance of the new Apple shop not far from Time Square in the Yuzhong district.

Chongqing (China), a worker is fixing a Chinese flag to a streetlight a few days before the Chinese New Year on Beibin Road along the bank of the Jaling River.

Chongqing (China), a group of elderly people chat, play cards and exercise in Eling Park, a vast green area in Yuzhong District built in 1909 as the residence of a wealthy businessman, Li Yaoting, and became a public park in 1958.

Chongqing (China), cars, motorbikes and pedestrians cross the Qiansimen Bridge over the Jaling River at night.

Chongqing (China), an orange seller at night under a series of bridges and elevated roads at a busy city intersection.

Chongqing (China), a woman at the hair salon in a store near the Three Gorges Museum in Yuzhong District.

Chongqing (China), residential buildings alongside the Yangtze River photographed from the subway. Taking into account its municipal boundaries, Chongqing turns out to be the largest and most populated city in the world.

Chongqing (China), two girls have a drink at Moonwalker Sky Land, a bar on the top floor of a high-rise building overlooking the Jialing River.

Chongqing (China), an electric scooter store of the Chinese company Yadea in Nan'an District. Chongqing is considered China's capital in electric motorcycle manufacturing.

Chongqing (China), a man sells street food at the exit of Liyuchi subway station in Jiangbei district.

Chongqing (China), a child plays a video game wearing a 3D visor in a city shopping centre.

Chongqing (China), after dark a couple enjoys throwing stones into the water along the eastern bank of the Jialing River in Jiangbei District.

Chongqing (China), a woman works in the alcoholic beverage warehouse among the narrow streets not far from Luohan Temple.

Chongqing (China), chairs ready to host an evening show in Time Square, the bustling city centre.

Chongqing (China), a group of young cosplayers wait for the subway at night in Niujiaotuo Green Line station.

Chongqing (China), fishermen in Tashui Water Park, surrounded by residential buildings, in Nan'an district.

Chongqing (China), a little girl has her mother photograph her as a “taikonauta” (as Chinese astronauts are called) in the space exploration section of the Chongqing Science and Technology Museum.

Chongqing (China), lifts to climb to the 250-metre height of the Crystal Corridor, a ‘horizontal skyscraper’ in the Raffles City complex.

Chongqing (China), two tourists photograph a panda in the city's Zoo, a green lung sandwiched between residential buildings in Jiulongpo district, southwest of the old town.

Chongqing (China), boys chat and drink while sitting at a small table in the shadow of buildings in the Liyuchi area of Jiangbei district.

Chongqing (China), a blue-haired girl joins some friends at a club on a Saturday night.

Chongqing (China), a booth for selling lottery tickets not far from Luohan Temple and in Yuzhong District.

Chongqing (China), cleaning women prepare for the start of their shift at Xiejiawan station along subway line two.

Chongqing (China), citizens attend a musical performance in Time Square, the busy and popular city center surrounded by stores of international fashion and jewelry brands.

Chongqing (China), a man and woman enter the garden of a restaurant with, behind them, the Yangtze River and the unmistakable silhouette of the Raffles City group of skyscrapers, built in 2019.

Chongqing (China), a boy sells street food on his truck not far from Luohan Temple and in Yuzhong District.

Chongqing (China), tennis courts in the campus spaces of Chongqing University.

Chongqing (China), tourists watch and photograph pandas in the city's Zoo, a green lung sandwiched between residential buildings in Jiulongpo district, southwest of the old town.

Chongqing (China), a bird takes flight from a pond in the city's Zoo, a green lung sandwiched between residential buildings in Jiulongpo district, southwest of the old town.

Chongqing (China), on a floating platform along the Jaling River, actresses dressed in traditional costumes watch the newly filmed scenes on the screens with the director.

Chongqing (China), two women walk outside the Eling Palace complex, built in 2018 by Safdie Architects on the hills adjacent to Eling Park: a complex system of 126 apartments that follow the topography of the terrain amid rooftop gardens, terraces, stairways, promenades and metal screens to shade the dwellings.

Chongqing (China), a monorail railroad switch at a subway station. Because of the morphology of the area, full of mountains and valleys, some subway lines use the monorail, which can more easily handle tight curves and steep slopes.