In the past 15 years, construction in emerging markets has changed
drastically with 190 new skyscrapers having been built in Dubai compared
to just 23 in London.
By the end of next year there will be 800 buildings above 152m tall
in China while FMG estimates the country will build enough of these huge
buildings by 2025 to fill 10 cities the size of New York.
Data from the Skyscraper Center reveals Jakarta now boasts over 160
buildings taller than 100 meters and, only last month, a deal was
confirmed to build the world’s tallest tower in Saudi Arabia.
Knight Frank’s Skyscrapers 2015 report refers to skyscrapers as “the
optimum means of addressing major economic and geographic challenges
facing cities today”. Many cities in the emerging markets are
experiencing rapid development, in terms of economic, industrial and
population growth, and infrastructural improvements.
Many of the bigger cities in these developing countries - such as
Jakarta, Metro Manila, Mexico City and Colombo - are experiencing rapid
urbanization. This, coupled with extreme population growth, is resulting
in a major gap between the supply and demand of residential real estate
and commercial units.
As a result, taller buildings have to be built to keep up with demand.
Paul Philipp Hermann, co-founder and managing director of emerging
markets-focused real estate platform Lamudi Global, comments:
“Skyscrapers are increasingly popular in the emerging markets, not just
for house-hunters looking for residential housing, but for real estate
investors too. These developments address the issue of land shortages,
overcrowding, supply versus demand, and lacking business space, all in
one building.”
Not only are more residents moving into these emerging markets
but businesses are too. So many companies now operate worldwide and need
offices in all their major locations. This rise in demand for mixed-use
developments means that skyscrapers – which are perfect for this – are
going up rapidly to make the best use of available space.