Shanghai Tower reaches for sky and record

A night view of Lujiazui, the financial district in Shanghai. China will have six of the world's top 10 skyscrapers by 2020, according to Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. [Lai Xinlin / China Daily]

Antony Wood, executive director of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, said skyscrapers reflect a city's aspiration and competence.

"If you look at the names of the towers, you'd see the changes," said Wood.

In the past, a tower was usually named after an enterprise such as the Rockefeller Center in New York or Jin Mao Tower in Shanghai. Now they are called Shanghai Tower, Wuhan Center and Canton Tower, said Wood.

However, some analysts and market insiders have expressed concerns about an oversupply of such tall buildings in some metropolises, especially those cities with less experience of managing such buildings.

"Some second- or lower-tier cities face risks of an oversupply," said Frank Chen, head of China research at CBRE.

He noted some cities are only regional centers and do not have much appeal to attract tenants.

Andy To, executive director of asset services at CBRE China, said many of the developers in emerging markets believe that once the super-tall buildings are built, tenants will eventually come but in many cases it does not turn out to be the case.

The many aspects of a city's condition - business environment, tax rates, market transparency, government efficiency, infrastructure, communications and human resources - are all important factors in an authority deciding whether the city needs many tall buildings, said To.

Sophie Lo, a department director at a company in one of the super-tall buildings in Lujiazui, said she likes to work in such a place.

"The prestigious location indeed helps the business as people believe that a company that can pay rents usually 30 percent higher than other office buildings must be financially secure," said Lo.

Li Zhijie, who works on the 40th floor of a building that used to be one of the tallest buildings in the Lujiazui area decades ago, sees some disadvantages.

"The bad thing is that you feel isolated working in a tall building," said Li. "Dining in the neighborhood is often quite expensive. The cost of being in a prestigious location is not low."

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