China's vertical forests

Only ten families have moved into the complex since April, leaving the balcony gardens to become overgrown. GETTY IMAGES. China’s first eco-friendly housing project that transformed tower blocks into “vertical forests” has grown into a concrete jungle plagued by mosquitoes because of a lack of residents. Qiyi City Forest Garden — a complex of eight, 30-storey residential towers in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province — had been lauded as the future of urban living. However, only ten families have moved in since April, leading to rapid overgrowth and an infestation of insects. Recent images of the project, which includes 826 flats, show balconies overrun with plants. “The exterior and private gardens are well designed, but the huge amount of greenery has attracted an equally huge amount of mosquitoes and insects, bringing lots of inconvenience,” a resident told local media.