Following rising safety concerns about the quality of some large projects, China’s National Development and Reform Commission has put an absolute prohibition on the construction of buildings taller than 500 meters.
Concerns about quality issues and safety dangers in China’s towering structures, resulting from insufficient control, prompted the prohibition.
The 291-meter-tall SEG Plaza in Shenzhen was evacuated in May after worries about inexplicable wobbling and swaying felt within the structure.
Part of the reason for the prohibition is an oversupply of office space in Chinese cities as a result of three decades of skyscraper building.
The new policy carries great significance, given that China currently contains five of the world’s ten towers exceeding 500 meters in height, according to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat.
China is also home to 44 of the world’s 100 tallest buildings.
