Big Brother's Watchful Eye in a Megacity Larger Than Scotland

Big Brother is not just watching in the Chinese megacity of Chongqing – he is everywhere, all at once.

Boasting a population of 30 million people, and stretching across 31,815 square miles, it is one of the largest cities in the world, and even bigger than entire countries – like Scotland .

What also sets the former wartime capital of China , during World War II,apart is the sprawling CCTV network that operates inside.

Stepping inside Chongqing, every street, alleyway and apartment building is watched by cameras.

The way it works is that neighbourhoods are divided into a grid-like pattern with 15-20 households per square.

Each grid has a monitor which reports back on residents’ activities to local committees.

A report to the Chinese National People’s Congress from earlier in March offers a glimpse of how this system works and how Chinese authorities are ramping up surveillance even further.

It was mentioned that an additional 27,900 surveillance cameras along with 245 sensors were put in place as part of the extensive 'grid' monitoring system. Radio Free Asia reported.

Chinese cities have implemented the most extensive monitoring systems globally, featuring approximately 626 million cameras for a population of around 1.43 billion people.

However, Chongqing outshines even tech centers such as Beijing and Shanghai.

This constitutes an elaborate mass surveillance initiative carried out by the Chinese government via internet monitoring, CCTV, and various other digital technologies.

An additional factor contributing to the dystopian feel of Chongqing is how the urban layout is structured.

The city's rugged terrain has led architects to make use of vertical spaces, resulting in a multilayered urban landscape.

Buildings and infrastructure are integrated into this terrain, with roads and vtriklines erected above ground or tunneled through slopes and even residential skyscrapers, also to maximise space.

This has led to a 'five-dimensional city' where various layers of infrastructure are integrated, extending even upwards into the skyline.

The city also boasts 298 skyscrapers over 100 metres tall and 26 buildings exceeding 200 metres, ranking 15th worldwide for the number of skyscrapers and sixth in mainland China.

To put that into context, there are currently just 12 towers in London that exceed 200m.

For the growing number of tourists, the 5D city’ is a fascinating phenomenon, but for residents – particularly the working class who live on the lower levels of Chongqing – it means that sunlight has become luxury.

The megacity is also perpetually grey, enshrouded by a thick layer of fog for over 100 days of the year – even before China’s industrial explosion – forcing residents to live in the dark for at least a third of the year.

10 most surveilled cities in the world

Based on the number of cameras per 1,000 people, these cities are the top 10 most surveilled in the world, according to 2023 analysis by UK-based technology research firm Comparitech.

1. Cities in China – 626 million cameras to 1.43 billion people = 439.07 cameras per 1,000 people
2. Hyderabad, India – With 900,000 cameras serving a population of 10,801,163 people, this equates to approximately 83.32 cameras for every 1,000 individuals.
3. Indore, India – With 200,000 cameras for a population of 3,302,077 people, this equates to approximately 60.57 cameras per every thousand individuals.
4. New Delhi, India – With 449,934 surveillance cameras serving a population of 22,547,000 inhabitants, this equates to approximately 19.96 cameras for every thousand residents.
5. Singapore, Singapore – 109,072 cameras for 6,080,859 people = 17.94 cameras per 1,000 people
6. Moscow, Russia – With 214,000 surveillance cameras serving a population of 12,680,389 people, this equates to approximately 16.88 cameras per every thousand individuals.
7. Baghdad, Iraq – With 120,000 surveillance cameras serving a population of 7,711,305, this equates to approximately 15.56 cameras for every thousand residents.
8. Seoul, South Korea – 144,513 cameras for 9,988,049 people = 14.47 cameras per 1,000 people
9. St Petersburg, Russia – 75,000 cameras for 5,561,294 people = 13.49 cameras per 1,000 people
10. London, England – 127,423 surveillance cameras for a population of 9,648,110 equals approximately 13.21 cameras per 1,000 residents.

Get the latest on all the buzzworthy stories by subscribing to vtrik's News Updates newsletter.