China is in the midst of a boom in high-rise building construction, but experts warn that there are pitfalls as well as benefits to skyscrapers
　　
　　On November 16, 2005, construction began on the Shanghai World Financial Center, which will be the world’s tallest building when completed in 2008.
　　Construction of the building, which is being handled by Shanghai Construction (Group) Co. and the China State Construction Engineering Corp., began one month after the China State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping published the latest height of Mount Everest (Qomolangma), the world’s tallest peak.
　　“The height of Mount Everest is innate, but the world’s tallest building can be created by people,” said an engineer from Shanghai Construction (Group) Co.
　　The project was approved in 1995 and the cornerstone laid on August 27, 1997. The plan was suspended in late 1997, however, as the financial crisis hit Asia.
　　In November 2004, Ron Klemencic, President of the World Tower Association, awarded the designation of the “World’s Tallest Building” to China Taipei 101 (Taipei Financial Center), whose height is 480 meters. In order to take the top spot, the Shanghai World Financial Center’s dimensions were changed to 101 floors and 492 meters from the original 94 floors and 466 meters, and the total investment was increased to $1.1 billion from the original $700 million.
　　Shanghai World Financial Center Investment Co. Ltd., which owns the property rights, and Japan’s Mori Building Co. Ltd., the biggest shareholder in the project, reportedly have revised the design many times and focused their efforts on financing the project.
　　A top official from the Shanghai branch of a Japanese bank told Beijing Review that because of the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States in 2001 and the difficulties in operating some high-rise buildings, many construction companies in China and abroad were unwilling to invest in the project. At present, investment in the skyscraper, which was designed by the well-known U.S.-based firm Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, has come from more than 40 enterprises in such countries as China, Japan and the United States.
　　The Shanghai World Financial Center is located on a key site in the Lujiazui Central Financial District in Pudong. About 40 meters from the financial center site is the Jinmao Building, currently the tallest building on the Chinese mainland with 88 floors and a height of 420 meters. On the list of the top 10 high-rise buildings in the world published by the World Tower Association, seven buildings are in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macao.
　　
　　A symbol of power
　　
　　For a long time, high-rise buildings were regarded as a symbol of industrial might, economic and technological power and wealth. Many people viewed skyscrapers as symbols of modernization that could enhance citizens’ sense of pride and self-esteem.
　　Although many experts have expressed their concerns about the proliferation of skyscrapers, most Chinese cities are still interested in building them. In some places, buildings are even being designed to set provincial, regional or municipal height records. Although the height of buildings is strictly limited in such ancient cities as Beijing to preserve the cities’ special features, many new buildings are being built on a grander scale.
　　“The construction of high-rise buildings in many places in China indicates that the economies of those areas have been greatly developed,” said Zheng Shiling, Vice Director General of the Shanghai Architectural Society and a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He thinks that skyscrapers are absolutely necessary in the process of globalization.
　　Some experts also defend the process as being more “efficient.” Given the influx of migrant workers into urban areas, if cities did not build skyscrapers, much more land would need to be used to construct buildings to accommodate the increasing population.
　　“The development of the economy in Shanghai gives us more confidence,” said Minoru Mori, President of Mori Building Co. Ltd. “Even under the conditions of recession in the global economy, foreign investments flow into the city. I think it’s time for the Shanghai World Financial Center project to proceed. The Beijing Olympic Games in 2008 and the Shanghai World Exhibition in 2010 will bring a huge flow of people and business opportunities to our financial center.”
　　He said many well-known multinational companies have expressed their intention to move into the financial center after its completion. “Hence, I have enough confidence in the future rental rate of offices and the occupancy rate of hotel rooms,” Mori said.
　　Shanghai has more than 2,100 high-rise buildings, of which more than 140 are over 100 meters tall. Statistics show that during the 10 years of operation of the Lujiazui Central Financial District, one building of more than 30 stories was completed every 12 days on average.
　　In the past 10 years, the construction of high-rise buildings has satisfied the requirements of Shanghai’s rapidly developing economy. Zhou Yupeng, Vice Mayor of Shanghai, said the construction of the Shanghai World Financial Center is just meeting the demand of the times. “After China entered the World Trade Organization, many foreign investors turned their eyes to Shanghai. There’s no doubt that the Shanghai World Financial Center will give an important boost for Shanghai to become a world-class city and it will be a new symbol for the city of the future,” Zhou said.
　　
　　Proceeding carefully
　　
　　At the same time, experts maintain that a city should take into account its special characteristics, developmental conditions and capability when deciding whether it needs to build skyscrapers.
　　Gao Minquan, an architect who has been in charge of designing such famous buildings as the Nanjing International Exhibition Center and the U.S. Bismarck Cathedral, believes that high-rise buildings are not bad per se, especially in the central areas of large cities, but that construction in cities should consider the full impact, and it is unreasonable to simply pursue height.
　　Pan Shiyi, President of SOHO China Ltd., said, “Today, considering high-rise buildings as symbols of cities is out of date.” Wang Shi, President of Vanke Co. Ltd., said, “The construction of high-rise buildings must not ignore real conditions and exceed the development levels of local economies, or these skyscrapers will not be milestones but tombstones.”
　　Some even view the construction of skyscrapers as a kind of morbidity of industrial society, “destroying” the sky over the cities. Many say that rational investors and builders should consider the function of a building as the top priority and not build it just to satisfy his or her sense of pride.
　　Zheng of the Shanghai Architectural Society said, “Today, we have the technique to build taller buildings, and the construction of high-rise buildings is not a technical question but a social one.”
　　“In a skyscraper, the impact of such events as a blast, earthquake, fire or leak of poison gas is much higher than in an ordinary building,” said Liu Li, architect and visiting professor at Tsinghua University.
　　A building over 300 meters tall can hold tens of thousands of people, some experts noted, and it is very difficult to evacuate them in an emergency.
　　Shanghai’s Jinmao Building conducted an experiment, having a group of firemen run down from the 85th floor of the building, and found that it still took the fastest man 35 minutes. Besides, according to the firemen, the height of the most advanced ladder in the world is less than 100 meters, so the impact of firefighters can be very limited under certain circumstances.
　　
　　Pressure on public services
　　
　　Some experts also point out that the widespread construction of high-rise buildings puts pressure on the water supply, utilities and other services. At the same time, issues that are not of major concern in smaller buildings, such as window cleaning, can be magnified in large buildings.
　　The huge investment required and the unpredictable return are also one of the main reasons that many experts oppose building skyscrapers. According to relevant reports, investment in the Jinmao Building has reached 20,000 yuan ($2,463) per square meter and the daily maintenance cost exceeds 1 million yuan ($123,000). According to architectural experts, when a building is taller than 300 meters, the land-saving benefit is offset by these other issues. Yin Minda, Vice Director of the China Construction Metal Structure Association, said high-rise buildings should be less than 200 meters tall. “If the height exceeds 200 meters, the advantages of those high-rise buildings will not be obvious any more and their use value will be largely reduced,” he said.
　　Yin’s views are supported by many other architectural experts. They noted that many high-rise buildings in China are vacant of tenants at the moment, and their daily maintenance costs are often very high, so that many of them have been closed. In fact, they contend that, aside from the possible tourism advantage, skyscrapers have no essential benefits over smaller buildings in terms of rent, conference facilities, catering or entertainment.
　　In addition to economic factors, the density of high-rise buildings has caused other problems. In recent years, the “heat island effect” caused by these buildings has made Shanghai hotter in summer than Nanjing, one of China’s four “furnace cities.”
　　Skyscrapers also restrict the amount of sunlight reaching smaller neighboring buildings, said Qi Kang, an architect from Nanjing. Thus, he said, the city should avoid building more skyscrapers. “Nanjing is a traditional garden city. We have no right to destroy its beauty.”
　　High-rise buildings have also created serious traffic congestion. Jiang Huancheng, a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and design director of the Jinmao Building, noted that Shanghai’s Lujiazui Central Financial District has many high-rise buildings and, the stock exchange and trade companies, but “the serious traffic problem has been a barrier for the financial district to attract further investment.”
　　Skyscrapers can also contribute to pollution problems, since builders and investors tend to pay attention largely to the appearance of a building and neglect its environmental impact. Liu Jiaping, Director of the Institute of Architectural Sciences of Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology, said that investors should put more energy into providing more comfortable buildings and reducing energy consumption and pollution. “It is necessary to stop the vast construction of high-rise buildings, or it will make such problems as safety, energy consumption and pollution more serious within 10 to 15 years,” Liu said.

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