According to a recent report in China, skyscrapers are blossoming in many Chinese cities. However, the recent reports of a craze to build more of them have sparked concerns of inadvisable investment.
     As of March 2011, Mainland China cities have built 350 skyscrapers higher than 152 meters, outstripping the number in the US. China is building another 287 high-rises and planning to construct more than 400 skyscrapers in the future.
     Analysts said cooled economic expansion dampened demand for high-end office buildings in the first half of 2012. Running cost for skyscrapers is also costly. It is estimated that management expenditure on the 420-m tall Shanghai Jinmao Tower reaches RMB1 million each day.
     As for mass transit projects nationwide, China has approved 25 new subway projects with an investment of RMB800 billion, including five projects in Shanghai worth more than RMB16.97 billion. Second-tier cities such as Xiamen in Fujian Province and Taiyuan in Shanxi Province are also developing metro lines, while Shanghai and Harbin in Heilongjiang Province will expand their existing metro systems. By 2020, 40 cities in China will have subways covering a total length of more than 7,000 km, 4.3 times the current length.
     A total of 13 new highway projects was also approved recently, covering a total distance of 2,000 km. Municipal governments will be spending approximately RMB10 trillion into these new infrastructure projects in the next few years.


High concentration of skyscrapers in Pudong CBD, Shanghai