Thursday, November 01, 2007

Shift Happens Statistic of the Day

From the United Airlines Hemispheres Magazine, October 2007 issue, p. 68:
The most dynamic metropolis in the world’s most populous country numbs me with extremes: It’s a single city with more skyscrapers than the entire U.S. West Coast. In Shanghai, a new building of 30 stories or more has been completed every 12 days for the last six years.

3 comments:

  1. And if you think that's crazy, look at Dubai!

    I just wouldn't want to be the person left holding the bag when property prices collapse...

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  2. OK, I live here, I see the cranes, the buildings and it still amazes me. Every time we go out my wife and I end up saying at some point "Do you remember that one being there?"

    We have a building that is being built in front of our apartment complex that is blocking our view of the river...ggggrrrr.

    They broke ground on August 5, 2006. So 15 months ago. The building is now approaching 30 stories (We're 31), and has at least 2 floors of parking under neither it. Not sure when it is suppose to be completed but it's scary how fast they build things around here.

    As Mr. Noah says....Dubai is just as bad if not worse. I read a state that said between Shanghai and Dubai something like 68% of all the worlds tower cranes are in these two cities.

    These countries are just building their infrastructures. What happens when they're done? What happens when these countries are able to turn their focus from building to impacting the world with those buildings? When we got here in 2005 the exchange rate was 8.2 to the USD. 2 years later it's 7.5 and falling each month.

    The new stats from Shanghai from the US consult here are that they estimate there are not closer to 22 million people in Shanghai. That's up from 18 million when we got here in 2005.

    Who knows what will happen here in the long run, but in the short term (they talk in 10 years) there is no signs of stopping.

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  3. @Jeff - That is the trillion dollar question - when these countries begin to turn their focus from internal to external.

    Hey, does this mean Blogger is unblocked again in China? Or were you traveling?

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