Reputed to nourish the second biggest economy worldwide, China is now observing improvements in building sizes and urbanization. Within the past 20 years, numerous skyscrapers have been erected in the country's developing cities.
These buildings equip the country with the capacity to keep up with housing needs for the modern economy. One such symbol for the progress is located in Shanghai where the country's tallest skyscraper stands.
The 632-meter Shanghai Tower took around six years to finish, with the last steel beam connected just a couple of months back. The Shanghai Tower holds the record as China's tallest skyscraper and will be opening in 2015.
The Shanghai Tower, alas, will only be able to hold that title for a couple more years, as another much taller skyscraper is being planned to be constructed in Suzhou. The future 729-meter skyscraper is just awaiting permission, along with other similar building projects.
In the following five years, China will be the home of 70 percent of the world's tallest skyscrapers ever built. Fifty-one percent of these are to be constructed in the second-tier cities of the country, according to the CBRE Group, a global leader in commercial real estates.
Several cities are following suit and investing to build taller buildings. However, some skeptics are questioning whether the outrageously tall buildings are really necessary.
Zhang Xiaochun, an editorial director from the Time + Architecture Journal, said that building developers profit much higher by constructing taller buildings to equalize the expensive prices of land.
With the hype of super tall skyscrapers, several second-tier cities have also began planning to construct some of their own. But architects and city planners have criticized some of the designs as unrealistic.
"Skyscrapers are not just an issue of technology and construction, it is more like a social issue. Developers and planners should consider the city's geographical and natural conditions, cultural heritages and its people," said Zhang.
By 2016, China will have nearly 800 skyscrapers, the most in the world. Hong Kong holds 300 of these towers.
