Skyscrapers are back and bigger than ever before. Most of the new towers–the first 1,000 meter tower is in the planning stages for Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (above)–are in the Middle East. The latest crop is supposedly more economically viable, but just as before the global real estate crash, sustainability has taken a back seat to other considerations.
[C]ritics argue the rush to build megatowers in Dubai and other cities around the Middle East, such as Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and Doha, Qatar, already is causing a bubble, increasing the likelihood of another property crash.
“Some of this is down to ego,” said Philip Oldfield, a lecturer in architecture at the University of Nottingham and a specialist in sustainable tall buildings. “One new development is that tall buildings are being used to show how developed a city or a country is…[and] not purely to fulfill a need for space.”
via online.wsj.com
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