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BEIJING (AFP) – An experimental green housing project in a Chinese megacity promised prospective residents to live in a “vertical forest,” with manicured gardens on each balcony.
The 826 apartments sold out in April this year, according to the project’s real estate agent, but instead of a modern eco-haven, the towers look like the setting of a bleak, post-apocalyptic movie.
The problem? Mosquitoes love plants too.
Only a handful of families have moved to Chengdu’s Qiyi City Forest Garden due to an infestation, state media reported.
The project in the southwestern city was built in 2018, with each private balcony designed to provide space for plants to grow, according to local media reports.
With no tenants to care for them, the eight towers have been invaded by their own plants and invaded by mosquitoes.
Plants have almost completely swallowed up some neglected balconies, with branches hanging over the railings of the towers, images taken this month showed.
Paper was seen taped over some of the windows that were still visible behind the overgrown plants.
But some residents seemed to have defied the mosquitoes: A handful of balconies had pruned plants and outdoor furniture, and lights were on inside the apartments.
Only about 10 families have moved, according to the state newspaper Global Times.
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