Skyscrapers aim ever higher but doubts grow
Source: Xinhua |
September 5, 2012, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
CLUSTERS of skyscrapers are elevating the urban skyline in many Chinese cities. However, recent reports of a craze to build more have sparked concerns.
Beijing's tallest building - the China World Trade Center Tower 3, about 330 meters in height, will be dwarfed in 2016 by "China Zun," being developed by the CITIC Group.
The design of the 528-meter China Zun was inspired by an ancient Chinese wine vessel, and investment in the project is to reach 24 billion yuan (US$3.78 billion).
The southwestern city of Chongqing is pumping a total investment of 10 billion yuan into the 470-meter-tall Chongqing International Financial Center. Shenzhen in south China's Guangdong Province will embrace its 660-meter Ping'an International Financial Center in two years. The total investment is 9 billion yuan. The 580-meter-tall Shanghai Center will beat the 492 meters of the Shanghai World Financial Center in the future as the city's tallest.
But to top them all, it has been reported that next June Changsha, capital of central China's Hunan Province, will start a seven-month project to raise a building 10 meters higher than the 828-meter Burj Khalifa Tower in Dubai, the world's tallest.
Buildings higher than 152 meters are regarded as skyscrapers. Among the 10 tallest buildings completed, four are in the Chinese mainland.
The website motiancity.com says as of March 2011, the Chinese mainland has built 350 skyscrapers higher than 152 meters, outstripping the number in the United States. The country then was building another 287 high-rises, and planned for more than 400 skyscrapers in the future.
But low occupancy is a potential risk for developers, warned He Jingtang, an academic with the Chinese Academy of Engineering.
Hung-Ming Lin, board chairman and general manager of Taipei 101, the second-tallest building completed in the world, said it takes a very long time before developers can make profits. It is estimated that management expenditures on the 420.5-meter-tall Shanghai Jinmao Tower reaches 1 million yuan each day.
Architect Lin Xianguang warned that fire is the biggest threat to tall buildings.
A fire brigade official in Beijing said rescue work in high-rises is a problem globally. Scaling ladders normally reach a maximum of 100 meters. "We need helicopters for rescue work in that case," said the official, who wished to remain anonymous, adding that few fire brigades in China are equipped for such flight.
Zhou Xuewang, of the China branch of US architectural design firm SOM, said many developers don't plan sufficiently. Zhou said the craze stems from local authorities' image-making and need to promulgate political achievements.
Beijing's tallest building - the China World Trade Center Tower 3, about 330 meters in height, will be dwarfed in 2016 by "China Zun," being developed by the CITIC Group.
The design of the 528-meter China Zun was inspired by an ancient Chinese wine vessel, and investment in the project is to reach 24 billion yuan (US$3.78 billion).
The southwestern city of Chongqing is pumping a total investment of 10 billion yuan into the 470-meter-tall Chongqing International Financial Center. Shenzhen in south China's Guangdong Province will embrace its 660-meter Ping'an International Financial Center in two years. The total investment is 9 billion yuan. The 580-meter-tall Shanghai Center will beat the 492 meters of the Shanghai World Financial Center in the future as the city's tallest.
But to top them all, it has been reported that next June Changsha, capital of central China's Hunan Province, will start a seven-month project to raise a building 10 meters higher than the 828-meter Burj Khalifa Tower in Dubai, the world's tallest.
Buildings higher than 152 meters are regarded as skyscrapers. Among the 10 tallest buildings completed, four are in the Chinese mainland.
The website motiancity.com says as of March 2011, the Chinese mainland has built 350 skyscrapers higher than 152 meters, outstripping the number in the United States. The country then was building another 287 high-rises, and planned for more than 400 skyscrapers in the future.
But low occupancy is a potential risk for developers, warned He Jingtang, an academic with the Chinese Academy of Engineering.
Hung-Ming Lin, board chairman and general manager of Taipei 101, the second-tallest building completed in the world, said it takes a very long time before developers can make profits. It is estimated that management expenditures on the 420.5-meter-tall Shanghai Jinmao Tower reaches 1 million yuan each day.
Architect Lin Xianguang warned that fire is the biggest threat to tall buildings.
A fire brigade official in Beijing said rescue work in high-rises is a problem globally. Scaling ladders normally reach a maximum of 100 meters. "We need helicopters for rescue work in that case," said the official, who wished to remain anonymous, adding that few fire brigades in China are equipped for such flight.
Zhou Xuewang, of the China branch of US architectural design firm SOM, said many developers don't plan sufficiently. Zhou said the craze stems from local authorities' image-making and need to promulgate political achievements.
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