Nestled among the towering hills of southwestern China lies Chongqing – one of the country’s largest and most dystopian cities, which also produces more than half of the world’s laptops.
Boasting a population of 32 million people, and stretching across 31,815 square miles, Chongqing is considered to be one of the world’s most surveilled cities in the world.
Earlier this year, authorities installed 27,900 surveillance cameras and 245 sensors as part of a comprehensive ‘grid’ surveillance plan to keep tabs on its residents, Radio Free Asia reported.
For years, the city has been part of the ‘Sharp Eyes’ pilot scheme to tackle crime, with the city’s surveillance system closely monitoring every aspect of its inhabitants’ in an attempt to minimise dissent.
Neighbourhood committees tasked with monitoring the activities of Chongqing’s locals have been likened to some of the world’s most significant intelligence networks.
Critics have long warned that such widespread surveillance in the Chinese megacity violates citizens’ rights to privacy – but despite this, chances of westerners knowing much about Chongqing are relatively low.
Situated in southeast China near the source of the Yangtze River, Chongqing has a rich history that stretches back over 3,000 years.
But it is only in the past forty years that it has been transformed from a small village to the megacity it is today.
PERCEPTION RESET 