In an article published in the Global Times Monday, titled "Bigger not necessarily better, as Chengdu's latest landmark shows," the author points out the Chinese obsession with constructing "biggest" and "tallest" buildings and argues that bigger are not always better.

This is not a fresh criticism. Each year there are all kinds of bizarre rankings, listing the astonishing skyscrapers in Chinese cities.

Certainly, besides contention among Chinese cities, there are also rankings positioning China's titan architectures among their global counterparts.

According to a ranking list in May 2012, among the world's top 10 skyscrapers, five are in China. While reporting this, Chinese media did not forget to add that more super-skyscrapers are already under construction, and the list might soon be filled with Chinese buildings.

Such reports are invariably followed by criticism voices online. Netizens lampoon the local governments' mentality of chasing meaningless rankings and see them as resource-squandering "image projects." Some cite Andrew Lawrence's Skyscraper Index concept, and indicate that those top skyscrapers mean an upcoming cycle of economic decline.

While all these concerns are not wholly unfounded, it is too soon to dismiss the role of skyscrapers in China. For one thing, the vertical development of architecture is an irreversible trend in cities, especially in China. That is probably why in science fiction, cities of the future are usually depicted as full of high-rises.

Population distribution is especially unbalanced in China, compared with developed countries in the West. If scattered in a balanced way, the population density in China could be even lower than in some European countries.

But at this stage, big cities maintain a magical attraction to people nationwide. As long as everyone rushes to first-tier cities, buildings will only grow taller and taller.

Passing by Beijing's North Fifth Ring Road, one wouldn't feel pleasing to see residential buildings with thickly dotted windows on the tall external wall. They do appear like hornets' nests, to paraphrase a classic Chinese metaphor. And wandering around the city's Central Business District in Guomao, one is instantly immersed in the shadow of tall edifices. But this situation will only intensify.

Today in southern Beijing, there are still stretches of single-story houses, stubbornly standing beside construction sites. Local residents there gossip about demolition compensation. These houses' disappearance for more skyscrapers to take their place is just a matter of time. 

Su Li, a journalist based in Beijing

Related:
Bigger not necessarily better, as Chengdu’s latest landmark shows