# Are asian cities going bit over the top.



## Gunther (Nov 18, 2005)

The only reason they are getting a bunch of fancy new building is because of their population growth they haft to put all of those people somewhere. To me it seems that their cities are overpopulated and polluted.


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## superchan7 (Jan 21, 2004)

What in the world? Are you guys trying to make yourselves feel better by saying the buidlings are empty?

Private developers build those buildings. If they're empty, do they make money? If they don't make money, would they even be built? North Korea builds empty buildings, and its economy is in the doldrums.

We can't take it because China's cities are booming. What other baseless ways can we use to try to insult developing countries?

And for the people who don't like the tacky and excessive decor on Chinese buildings...why don't we consider those Hummers steamrolling on our streets?


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## superchan7 (Jan 21, 2004)

Gunther said:


> The only reason they are getting a bunch of fancy new building is because of their population growth they haft to put all of those people somewhere. To me it seems that their cities are overpopulated and polluted.


That is the harsh truth of an overpopulated developing country. Public need will drive housing prices down if people can't afford to live in those buildings. Chinese cities are overpopulated and heavily polluted, there is no question. China's task now is to promote sustainable and less environmentally-damaging growth. Otherwise by the time China finishes modernizing, it will be a wasteland.


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## polako (Apr 7, 2005)

FDI is the major contributor to this craziness. Mostly Asian cities(but not only) are being swormed by American and European investors trying to maximize their profits, and on the way building big and tall for Asias(and others too to a lesser extent). It's a courteous gesture saying thank you for letting us make lots of money of off your cheap laborforce. Also Moscow has an exploding skyline right now on par with its Asian counterparts.


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## George W. Bush (Mar 18, 2005)

^^
I don't think that FDI is a major factor here. The property developers are mostly Chinese companies.

@Gendo Akari:
As far as I know demand exceeds supply of residential units.


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## YelloPerilo (Oct 17, 2003)

polako said:


> FDI is the major contributor to this craziness. Mostly Asian cities(but not only) are being swormed by American and European investors trying to maximize their profits, and on the way building big and tall for Asias(and others too to a lesser extent). It's a courteous gesture saying thank you for letting us make lots of money of off your cheap laborforce. Also Moscow has an exploding skyline right now on par with its Asian counterparts.


About 70% of the so called FDIs are either from Oversea Chinese or Mainland Chinese who reinvest through off shore companies back into China to save taxes.


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## ROLFSTER (Sep 13, 2005)

Why don't asian cities do something unique rather then copying westers (Americans). I hate that you know.


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## i.q.ninja (Jul 21, 2005)

I would hate to see Asian financial crisis II: electric boogaloo.


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## wickedestcity (Jul 23, 2004)

You need a market to justify the developments which they don’t quite have yet since none can really afford those living conditions yet. It’s not as bad as Dubai were there’s no real economy to back up or justify the building frenzy over there. But on the other hand the direction things are moving for these Asian, I think these vacancies will drop in the near future. One dif. between Americans and Asians is the margin in the % of educated and comfortably living (for a lack of better words). I don’t know the numbers but basically were we got say 95% are not in poverty and say 5% is. In many Asian countries it’s just the opposite. (The numbers are off but the point still stands) correct me if I’m wrong.


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## centralized pandemonium (Aug 16, 2004)

No they are not, especially countries like India and China. They cannot afford American style suburbs, they _have_ to go up. Its good imo.


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## George W. Bush (Mar 18, 2005)

wickedestcity said:


> You need a market to justify the developments which they don’t quite have yet since none can really afford those living conditions yet. It’s not as bad as Dubai were there’s no real economy to back up or justify the building frenzy over there. But on the other hand the direction things are moving for these Asian, I think these vacancies will drop in the near future. One dif. between Americans and Asians is the margin in the % of educated and comfortably living (for a lack of better words). I don’t know the numbers but basically were we got say 95% are not in poverty and say 5% is. In many Asian countries it’s just the opposite. (The numbers are off but the point still stands) correct me if I’m wrong.


In emerging countries usually something between 10% and 20% of the population can afford to buy or rent housing of good to very high quality. In China this would be more than 100 million people, the vast majority living in urban areas. If half of these persons lives in highrises this would mean something like 100.000 highrise buildings. Again consider that most of these highrises are to be found maybe in the ten largest cities of the country and then you may see the reason for these skylines. And we haven't even taken the commercial buildings into account.


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## wickedestcity (Jul 23, 2004)

^ true , the populatin dif. is a big factor


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## seattlehawk (Nov 18, 2005)

wickedestcity said:


> You need a market to justify the developments which they don’t quite have yet since none can really afford those living conditions yet. It’s not as bad as Dubai were there’s no real economy to back up or justify the building frenzy over there. But on the other hand the direction things are moving for these Asian, I think these vacancies will drop in the near future. One dif. between Americans and Asians is the margin in the % of educated and comfortably living (for a lack of better words). I don’t know the numbers but basically were we got say 95% are not in poverty and say 5% is. In many Asian countries it’s just the opposite. (The numbers are off but the point still stands) correct me if I’m wrong.


This may be true for India or China but I belive that in other Asian countries where this boom is going on, such Dubai, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore, the disparity between rich and poor is probably not to the extent that you have suggested. Of course, there is a difference between those who live in urban centers and those who live in rural areas but then there is also such difference in the US. A farmer in Alabama probably doesn't make as much as a stock broker in Manhattan.


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## seattlehawk (Nov 18, 2005)

George W. Bush said:


> In emerging countries usually something between 10% and 20% of the population can afford to buy or rent housing of good to very high quality. In China this would be more than 100 million people, the vast majority living in urban areas. If half of these persons lives in highrises this would mean something like 100.000 highrise buildings. Again consider that most of these highrises are to be found maybe in the ten largest cities of the country and then you may see the reason for these skylines. And we haven't even taken the commercial buildings into account.


Yup, thats a good point. If only 28% of Chinese were living in the cities, then they would be as many as the entire population of the US.


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## polako (Apr 7, 2005)

George W. Bush said:


> ^^
> I don't think that FDI is a major factor here. The property developers are mostly Chinese companies.
> 
> @Gendo Akari:
> As far as I know demand exceeds supply of residential units.


Yeah but the money for the development comes from overseas, this process is called contracting in case you didn't know.


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## George W. Bush (Mar 18, 2005)

^^
Yes, I know what it means.
And no, the Chinese developers are the investors.


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## ROLFSTER (Sep 13, 2005)

wickedestcity said:


> ^ true , the populatin dif. is a big factor


True


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## polako (Apr 7, 2005)

George W. Bush said:


> ^^
> Yes, I know what it means.
> And no, the Chinese developers are the investors.


Well, some are, but the great majority of the investment for the development of office space comes from abroad. As to residential space development it probably is all Chinese investors.


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## ♣628.finst (Jul 29, 2005)

touchring said:


> The living standards in Asian cities differ greatly from the suburbs and rural areas, so office working people tend to cramp towards the city center. Just take a 45 minutes travel by car from Pudong city area to Shanghai rice growing areas and the difference is startling.


Try take a 45 minutes ride from Tucson, and you find yourself amid in desert. And you got nothing but scrubs and sand and crazy drivers but how can you live there? I mean without a car!

This phenomenon is not restricted in Asia, it does happen in North America, especially in Western US.


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## [email protected]_Coast (Jul 30, 2005)

Its Canada's Century not China's!


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## James Foong (May 12, 2005)

Asia is in puberty period. you need to give us a chance juz like u westerner hav b4.


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## Taller Better (Aug 27, 2005)

James Foong said:


> Asia is in puberty period. you need to give us a chance juz like u westerner hav b4.


But you've got to trim the pubes once in awhile or it gets messy......


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## James Foong (May 12, 2005)

Yah..it makes sense. China n dubai shld take a good lesson on that.


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## luv2bebrown (Nov 4, 2004)

but u have to understand some people's pubes grow faster than others'


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## island_boi (Oct 25, 2006)

i guess it's because asian cities (the areas where the skyscrapers are) are new compared to those rich and established european and north american cities. at the time they planned those particular areas, the whole city is already crowded. they have no choice but to expand upward. and some even have limited space (hong kong and singapore).


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## oliver999 (Aug 4, 2006)

i think it's the spirit in china : the expressway could not be decided to built, but if you decide to do, you must built the best in the world.
china has lag behind the world for 200 century, so they have the strong spirit to build up a country as advanced as western world.that's their dream.


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## swallowave (Oct 18, 2006)

[email protected]_Coast said:


> Its Canada's Century not China's!


where is Canada? a group of people who lives besides the border to and rely on US?


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## Xusein (Sep 27, 2005)

The guy's banned, oh well...




ROLFSTER said:


> Are asian cities going bit over the top with all the cometition of tall buildings and skylines.


No, you have to remember the density and population of most Asian cities...

Better than sprawl.


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## LordChaos80 (May 10, 2006)

rt_0891 said:


> Prepare for Claustrophobia. Most North Americans still have no idea what living in a shoebox feels like. It's not necessarily fun.


As a westerner (German) who is quite familiar with the current situation in Chinese megacities I cannot subscribe to ur point of of view. I have been inside hundreds of apartments in cities like Wuhan (where my wife is from), Nanjing, Guangzhou, Tianjin and of course Beijing and Shanghai. The small, shoebox-like apartments u mention are a fading legacy of a time when urban poverty was a far bigger problem in China than nowadays. All those newly built residental highrises contain spacy and comfortable flats, even the simple ones f(or common working class people). Don´t judge them from outside or from pics. U really gotta be inside and I bet u would be surprised. What I want to say is that there is no sence in claiming that the recent construction boom in China leads to claustrophobic conditions. Instead living conditions are improving for the vast majority of urban residents and the average living space per capita is increasing along with the construction boom.


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## Kiss the Rain (Apr 2, 2006)

To all those people that think the massive amount of buildings going on in china is only for show-off and average people cannot afford to rent it, answer me this:
WHY ON EARTH WOULD THE INVESTOR BUILD THEM IF NO ONE CAN AFFORD THEM THEREFORE NO MONEY Is GONNA BE MADE????
Or are you saying that the investors in china are too dumb to realise not investing if no profit? It's really a simple demand and supply relation.
ALso. the housing price has been on the rise for many years, what does that tell you? The demand is over and exceeds the supply therefore pushing the price up.


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## Nouvellecosse (Jun 4, 2005)

superchan7 said:


> The only country whose government builds skyscrapers for false image is North Korea.


The Petronas towers were built by Malaysia's state owned oil comapny.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petronas

KL isn't even that crowded compared to many Asian cities. Did they really need the WTB?


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## AltinD (Jul 15, 2004)

^^ Did THEY really need the WTB?

THEY = New York & Chicago


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## AltinD (Jul 15, 2004)

rt_0891 said:


> ...Also, I've noticed that on average, North American condo units are larger than their Asian counterparts...


Why don't you take a look of the new condos being build in TORONTO and come back talking about "larger" North American condos.


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## ayan (Oct 14, 2006)

oliver999 said:


> i think it's the spirit in china : the expressway could not be decided to built, but if you decide to do, you must built the best in the world.
> china has lag behind the world for 200 century, so they have the strong spirit to build up a country as advanced as western world.that's their dream.



You mean 200 years lol? China as a country is at most 5000 years old.


And I don't think Asian cities are going over the top. Sure a few supertall commercial skyscrappers are
built to satisfy ego more than needs, but in a such a populous region there is no choice but to build higher.


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## van_gogh (Dec 16, 2003)

I just want to comment on the notion that most skyscrapers in Asia are built by private developers.

While that notion is true, before Asian Financial Crisis, Asian governments bailed out real estate developers if they run out of money(eg. Thailand). The developers did not have to look at the supply and demand of the market because it's a zero-risk business to them. Even though some properties were built by private developers, it was semi financed by the government. 

In essence, they are not really private developers.


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## ravib81 (Sep 17, 2004)

Yes, so many Asian cities are going over-the-top. I mean buildings and construction projects are great, but most Asian developers/city planners have give no consideration to style or aesthetics. Asian cities are modern (modernizing), but some are so dreadfully ugly.


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## Nouvellecosse (Jun 4, 2005)

AltinD said:


> ^^ Did THEY really need the WTB?
> 
> THEY = New York & Chicago


?

I wasn't aware that either of them had supertalls built by government.


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## DrJoe (Sep 12, 2002)

AltinD said:


> Why don't you take a look of the new condos being build in TORONTO and come back talking about "larger" North American condos.


Condos in Toronto are a market driven choice whereas in Asian cities you don't really have the choice. The largest quotient of condo buyers in Toronto are single, young professionals who simply want their own place in the city, size is somewhat of an after thought. Realistically most of them could save their money and buy a house if they wanted.


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## Echang03 (Oct 21, 2006)

Taipei is like the only big Asian city that doesn't have a skyline with like 500 300m skyscrapers.


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## Manila-X (Jul 28, 2005)

Echang03 said:


> Taipei is like the only big Asian city that doesn't have a skyline with like 500 300m skyscrapers.


But they have the world's tallest building plus some buildings over 600 ft.


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