I have lived in places where there is no regulation on buildings that I could discern. For instance, in Japan, there are a lot of cities and sections of cities that evolved without any kind of regulation, at all (except for keeping the red light district in one area of the city). It is still organized, but in a different way from what you see in, say, America. There are complaints, but everybody understands that one’s property is his to do with as he wishes.