What's really interesting is that out of the 20, Dubai has 6 and Korea has 4. Overall, the Middle East has 10 (50%) while Asia has 7 (35%). There's only 2 in the U.S. (10%), only one in Europe (in Moscow), none in Japan.
Now one question I'm tempted to throw is "could this possibly be any indication for the emerging new world order in the not-too-distant future?"
Sure, there are many factors to consider. First of all, you might say "having many tall buildings don't mean jack about the new world order." Some cultures and people just might be more obsessed with tall buildings (I believe Koreans are, in general.) Some governments are strategically doing that just to impress many investors when they come to visit. (Again, I'm pretty sure the Korean government is doing this.) I mean, if you are already rich and powerful, you don't need to show off to prove anything, right? Also, we shouldn't forget that the current economic crisis could simply kill many of those projects. We've been hearing over and over again about the not-so-rosy situation in Dubai.
But, this still has many important implications. The catch-up-from-behind countries are really speeding up. That's including Dubai, China, and Korea. Morever, think about what kind of technology you would need in order to complete a project like this. Remember architecture is a combination of business, technology, arts, social dynamics, and culture. (For example, look at the shape of the building that's being built in Maccah, which is near Mecca.) Think about the urbanization effects. Each of those buildings will probably hold over 100,000 habitants and probably even more during business hours. Basically when you could have monuments like these, you can't take these too lightly.
What do you guys think?
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