16 January 2012
MyRate reviews a new report from bank Barclays Capital revealing that a strange link exists between building of skyscrapers and financial crises.
"Often the world's tallest buildings are simply the edifice of a broader skyscraper building boom, reflecting a widespread misallocation of capital and an impending economic correction," it said.
Take the example of the Empire State Building in 1930 along with high rise buildings in Kuala Lumpur in 1997 & Dubai in 2010, they have all been followed by economical crashes.
Even the world first skyscraper built in New York in 1873 coincided with a five year long recession.
The Council on Tall Buildings & Urban habitat, defines a supertall building as a building with a height of 300 meters and up.
According to this “high rise” indicator, China could be at risk because they are currently in the process of building more than half of the planned skyscrapers in the world over the next 6 years.
London could also be in trouble soon as they are planning to build 310 meters high “Shard” which would become the highest building in Western Europe.
Looking at Australia’s latest building additions & projects in the pipeline, it doesn’t seem that our country has been too extravagant or trying to break any records. The skyscrapers built over the last 5 years in Australia have all been below 300 meters.
This rather “conservative” approach seems to have kept Australian economy afloat compared to the rest of the world…
