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European Real Estate Society Stockholm 24 th -27 th June 2009

European Real Estate Society Stockholm 24 th -27 th June 2009 Are Tall Buildings and a City’s Skyline Emblematic of City Competitiveness?. Lesley Hemphill*, Stanley McGreal*, Ali Parsa* and Stephen Roulac # *Built Environment Research Institute, University of Ulster

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European Real Estate Society Stockholm 24 th -27 th June 2009

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  1. European Real Estate Society Stockholm 24th-27th June 2009 Are Tall Buildings and a City’s Skyline Emblematic of City Competitiveness? Lesley Hemphill*, Stanley McGreal*, Ali Parsa* and Stephen Roulac# *Built Environment Research Institute, University of Ulster # Roulac Global Places and University of Ulster

  2. Background to the Paper • Widespread tall building activity throughout world’s major cities • Evidence that some cities are adopting a visual or ‘look at me’ strategy based on tall buildings • Fierce competition between cities for world’s tallest building, hence there must be perceived benefits to title • Investigation of linkage between a city’s skyline and city competitiveness • Emerging tall building trends for regions and cities • Potential to formally measure skyline and competitiveness relationship

  3. Key Research Questions • Can the presence of tall buildings help promote city competitiveness? • Is there a global hierarchy of skyscraper cities? • Will tall buildings become an increasingly important element of a city’s competitiveness strategy? • Can a tall building-led strategy help attract foreign investment? • Does the presence of tall buildings influence corporate location choices?

  4. Literature Review • Key emerging literature themes – • City imagery associated with tall buildings – ‘corporate skyline’; city identity; international brand recognition; big business symbols; symbols of capitalism; skyline & popular preference [Attoe, 1981; Catchpole, 1987; Domosh, 1988; Huxtable, 1992; Willis, 1995; Heath et al, 2000; Gair, 2002; Polisano, 2006] • Iconic/signature buildings & star architects – McGuggenisation; benefits of iconic buildings; use of high profile architects; [McNeill, 2000, 2005; Vale & Warner, 2001; Charney, 2007; Sklair, 2006; Jencks, 2004, 2006; Sudjic, 2005] • Increasing monumentality of skylines – race for the sky; protection of strategic views; groundscraper alternative to skyscraper; skyscraper opposition; cost effectiveness [Ford, 1994; Carmona & Freeman, 2007; Holleran, 1996; Weir, 2005; Frackler, 2007; Thornton, 2005]

  5. Literature Review • World city formation & inter-city competitiveness – competing forces; with or without tall bldgs; putting a city on the world map; corporate publicity [Young et al, 2006; Kim, 2008; Thurley, 2007; Gilligan, 2007; March, 2004; Ashworth, 2008] • Contrasting world city measurement methodologies – world city hypothesis; triad of world cities; distinguished characteristics; command centres; connectivity; press coverage; data availability; power relations [Friedmann, 1986; Sassen, 1991, 1994; Beaverstock et al, 1999, 2000; Taylor, 1997; Taylor et al, 2002; Rosen, 2007] • Multi-national corporation location choices – 9/11 impact; corporate image; globalisation benefits; [Johnson & Kasarda, 2003; Laing, 2003; Dermisi & Baen, 2005; Abadie & Dermisi, 2006; Millar et al, 2003; Cohen, 1981]

  6. Key Data Sources • Emporis.com [High-rise Building Database – Skyline Ranking, World’s Tallest 200 Buildings and supporting population/area data] • Council for Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat [CTBUH official tallest 100 building database] • Chinese Academy of Social Sciences [Global Urban Competitiveness Index, 2008] • Beaverstock et al [A Roster of World Cities, Cities, Vol. 16, No. 6, p445-458, 1999]. • PriceWaterhouseCoopers [UK Economic Outlook, March 2007 – GDP data] • CB Richard Ellis [Market Report on Office Occupancy Costs, May 2009]

  7. Skyline Ranking – Emporis.comMay 2009 Urban Competitiveness Rank – CASS June 2008

  8. Corporate Location Choices within Alpha Cities

  9. Conclusions • Asia dominates tall building construction – West to East shift • Asia & Middle East world leaders in tall building height • Emergence of Dubai, Shanghai, Guangzhou & Moscow on height spectrum • Two tiers of skyscraper cities – established & emerging [‘wannabe cities’] • ‘Wannabe cities’ adopt an aggressive visual based strategy • Buildings under 30 floors have limited impact on city competitiveness • Importance of reviewing skyline ranking to keep pace with competitors • Positive correlations between skyline and city competitiveness as well as contributory factors • Further research needed to determine height & number of tall buildings needed to make a major contribution to competitiveness.

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