Since China embarked on its economic reforms nearly four decades ago, Chinese cities have witnessed profound growth in size and scale. As the country transformed its economy, urbanization took root as millions of rural emigrants moved to the city, reflected in the commensurate rise of skylines to house growing urban populations as well as nascent business districts. The resulting cityscapes are littered with immense quantities of skyscrapers, a testament to China's economic might. While China's investment in skyscrapers has been nothing short of spectacular, little, in fact, has been investigated about their construction. Through economic analysis, this report endeavors to test several hypotheses with the goal of investigating the underlying factors driving skyscraper construction. China's unique economic system creates a number of incentives for skyscraper development, potentially complicating matters beyond traditional economic fundamentals of supply and demand. Further complicating factors include the social and political benefits of skyscraper development as well as the symbolic role that skyscrapers can play in building identities for cities. In order to analyze the various factors impacting skyscraper construction, this research utilizes an exhaustive data set of skyscrapers completed from 1980 to 2014 in 74 cities throughout China. Various regression models were implemented to test for the degree to which skyscraper construction patterns are based on economic fundamentals versus the competitive desire to standout or call attention to respective cities. The resulting conclusions offer compelling arguments for China's unprecedented skyscraper construction and provide evidence for a strong economic rationale behind China's skyscraper growth. In doing so, this report lays the groundwork for additional investigations into the necessary role of the skyscraper in China's urbanization.

Economic Drivers: Skyscrapers in China

Jason Barr

Jingshu Luo

Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat

The world is filled with people who are at wit's end with their careers. Whether it is a lack of fulfillment, long hours, time away from our families, office politics, or the burning desire that we were meant for something else, most of us have felt the urge to leave our job and pursue a career that we feel will offer us fulfillment. Just when we think we have reached the breaking point, our thoughts turn to the income, status, and security that our jobs offer. Unable to walk away from the level of success we have attained, we continue toiling away at a career we sometimes despise. Prisoners Of Our Own Success investigates how we perceive success and offers a roadmap on how to find significance in our careers as we redefine success on our own terms.  This is a must read for anyone who has achieved success, but has been left wanting.

Prisoners of Our Own Success

History

MORFX Press

Gender and Werewolf Cinema

McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers

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Books by Jason Barr