The vertical dimension in the urban structure of Chinese megacities is the unique key that has allowed to cluster millions of people in highly concentrated areas. The exponential growth of Chinese cities since the ‘80s of the last century has been possible thanks to social and land policies in support of urbanism developed through models of constructions that have favored the vertical dimension alone. The essay, after having retraced the history of vertical urbanization in the Chinese metropolis, puts a critical emphasis on the typology of the Chinese condominium
