Tall in 2011

The year 2011 has been a good one for really tall buildings, which is kind of surprising given the overall economic downturn. One would have expected that the appetite for such large projects to have subsided. But, in some parts of the world their construction has been on the rise.

According to a recently released report by the US based “Council of Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat” titled "A year in review: trends of 2011"more 200m+ buildings were completed in 2011 than in any previous year, with a total of 88 completed projects. Shenzhen’s Kingkey 100, at 442 metres, tops the 2011 list. The report attributed this rise to large construction activity in China as well as the emergence of new markets, thus mitigating the still lingering effects of the 2008 financial crisis.

What is also of interest that the number office buildings among the tallest 100 has diminished to the 50 per cent mark, as mixed-use buildings continue to increase,jumping from 23 to 31.

The region dominating the market is Asia containing 46 out of 100 of the world’s tallest buildings; the Middle East saw an increase of three, while Europe had only one building, namely the Capital City Moscow Tower.

Looking at specific countries the report singles out two: China and the UAE who together contain a total of 39 of the projects – over 44 per cent of the world’s completions in 2011. Among cities there are several newcomers: Panama City, which has 10 completions; Abu Dhabi (nine completions) and, curiously, Busan (nine completions) – the second largest city in Korea. The latter is particularly interesting, as I had to look it up on a map.

Dubai is of course dominating the region in terms of tall building construction. It added six 200m+ buildings in 2011. Quite an amazing feat considering that only a decade ago the entire UAE contained a total of only three 200m+ buildings. But now, according to the report, it contains 60 such buildings, behind only China and the USA. Moreover, the country has become a centre of tall buildings: it has completed more 200m+ buildings than any other country except China in the past two years.

Some of the buildings constructed in 2011 include Dubai’s 23 Marina which became the world’s tallest residential building, at 393 metres. It is located next to a few other buildings under construction such as the Princess Tower slated to become the world’s tallest in 2012. This will make Dubai Marina as the report points out “the tallest residential skyscraper cluster in the world.”

Abu Dhabi is not far behind though. Indeed it added nine 200m+ buildings in 2011, which is quite a change from only two buildings at the beginning of the year. And this is set to increase, as there are more than 13 200m+ buildings under construction. Among the buildings completed in 2011 are the Etihad Towers complex comprised of five towers ranging in height from 218 to 305 metres. At the moment Etihad Towers 2 is the city’s tallest.

All of these indicators and projects do suggest that the region and the UAE are beginning to turn the page as it were on the financial crisis and are on their way to a comeback. Yet one must be careful in assessing their significance.

In fact – and as I have discussed in a previous column titled “The Skyscraper Index” – the construction of super-tall buildings is sometimes used as a predictor for economic calamity. While this is not always the case, it should give us some pause in looking at their proliferation. Indeed, lessons should be learned from the past so as to avoid speculative trends – which cause the emergence of tall buildings in the first place – and instead the focus should be on relating the construction of super-tall towers to an economic, social, and environmental context.

Ultimately though, super-tall is never about economics. In fact they may not even make much sense if the sole aim is to generate profits. Yet they keep getting built – Saudi Arabia is on its way to construct the tallest building in the world (almost double the height of Burj Khalifa) and London is finishing its tallest building, named “The Shard.” Their construction celebrates the human spirit, and its triumph – showing how we can overcome challenges through sheer innovation and the use of advanced technology.

But we need to be careful or we may end up with the fate of the builders of the ‘Tower of Babel.’

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