Earlier this year, Beijing banned “ugly architecture”. In recent years, regulators have openly criticised some of the bold designs, calling them “vanity projects” that would only encourage Chinese cities to compete with each other in the wrong way. People flee in panic as 300-metre skyscraper wobbles in China – video It was later found to have been caused by a combination of winds, underground rail lines and fluctuating temperatures. In May, a 72-storey, near-300-metre building in southern Shenzhen began mysteriously shaking, prompting an evacuation of people inside while pedestrians looked on in horror. Both incidents generated intensive discussions on Chinese social media. And in August, another occurred in the north-eastern city of Dalian, in Liaoning province. In March, a fire broke out in a high-rise residential building in the northern Chinese city of Shijiazhuang. Reports of potential health and safety incidents in these skyscrapers often appear in state media and on social media. And for years the fast-developing country has been an experiment for ambitious international architects such as Rem Koolhaas and the late Zaha Hadid.īut the authorities have in recent years found it increasingly difficult to manage these buildings. China is also one of the biggest markets for designers such as the London-based Arup.

The 128-storey, 632-metre-tall Shanghai Tower, for example, is China’s tallest and the world’s second-tallest building.

It added that those who approve new projects that violate the latest rules would held to “lifelong accountability”.Ĭhina is home to some of the world’s mega towers. The latest statement was jointly issued in the last few days by China’s ministry of housing and urban-rural development and ministry of emergency management, a cabinet-level executive department responsible for emergency management and work safety. They included requirements for the towers’ anti-earthquake capability, and whether they could match the fire and rescue capability in the cities they are located. The regulator also tightened the rules for buildings taller than 100 metres this summer. Exemptions may be granted after the government has checked detailed building plans, such as those related to firefighting capabilities. It said at the time that new high-rises taller than 500 metres would no longer be approved, and those exceeding 250 metres would be strictly limited. In July, China’s national development and reform commission, the country’s top planning agency, banned new skyscrapers taller than 500 metres and restricted those taller than 250 metres. This is not the first time Chinese regulators have stepped in to limit the height of skyscrapers. The authorities will also limit structures taller than 250 metres for cities with more than 3 million people.

China skyscraper falls over