Instead of concrete jungles could our cities become urban forests of wooden skyscrapers>? Today swapping cement and steel for timber is the vision of a number of environmentally-minded architects who are planning high-rise buildings across the world. A Norwegian building society will this month start work on the world's tallest wooden apartment block, a 14-story structure which will rise to 49 meters, easily eclipsing the existing record holder in Melbourne, Australia. 'Treet', or The tree, will this year begin to rise up next to the Byfjorden in Central Bergen, after the Bergen and Omegn Building Society (BOB) begins work this month. As reported the Society it had now sold half of the 62 apartments. Ole Kleppe, who is managing the project for BOB, said that the builders planned to build the apartments around a gigantic timber frame formed of metre-thick columns of wooden 'glulam'. "The news is that we are combining load-bearing structures of glulam with apartments based on modules," he explained. "All other future high-rise timber projects of more than ten stories around the world today are somehow based on a concrete, steel or composite core." Once the modules are fixed in place early next year, the entire building will be wrapped in a glass and metal facade to protect the wooden structures from the notoriously wet Bergen climate. "The project is a pilot project to show how we can build high-rise timber projects that are sustainable," he said. "This project will bind approximately one thousand tons of CO2 in the wooden constructions -- an important contribution to reducing emissions of CO2." Recently a Yale University - led study has found that using more wood and less steel and concrete in building and bridge construction would substantially reduce global carbon dioxide emissions and fossil fuel consumption despite an established forest conservation theory. Forte, in Melbourne, became the world's tallest timber frame apartment building at 32 meters, when it was completed at the end of 2012. In 2012 Architect Michael Green, one of three principals at McFarlane Green Biggar Architecture + Design (MGB), also announced about plans to build a 30-story wooden skyscraper in Vancouver.

Trident International Holdings, a Dubai-based developer, will be restarting work on 516-meter The Pentominium, billed as the world's tallest residential tower, by third quarter. In conjunction with the Dubai Land Department, Trident is actively working on several advanced options towards restarting the construction of this project. The tower, located in Dubai Marina, was scheduled for completion in 2013, but work was suspended in August 2011 following the global financial crisis and customer default. When completed, the residential tower will have 122 floors above ground and house 172 luxury penthouses designed by Italian fashion designer Salvatore Ferragamo. In 2009, Arabian Construction Company was awarded a US$ 400 million contract for construction of the tower. Construction commenced on July 26, 2009, and, before construction stopped, at least 30 floors had been completed. When completed, Pentominium will become the second tallest building in Dubai after 828-metre Burj Khalifa, the tallest tower in the world. Dubai already is home to four of the tallest residential towers with the 414-metre Princess Tower in Dubai Marina holding the world record according to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat.. The 395-meter 23 Marina is in second place, followed by 381-meter Elite Residence and 337-meter The Torch, Council data reveals. Emporis' latest data shows Dubai has 1,882 tall buildings of which 869 exist, 625 are planned, 341 under construction, 46 un-built and one demolished.

It was revealed, that the Dubai Municipality will build a sustainable residential city for Emirate residents, powered by solar energy. The future for Dubai seems bright and eco-friendly as Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai ruler and the UAE's Vice President and Prime Minister, was briefed on the new residential project, 'Dubai Smart Sustainable City'. The project will be built close by to the Al Aweer Roundabout in Dubai and accommodate around 160,000 people over a total area of 5660 hectares. The city will be "completely sustainable" according to Dawood Al Hajeri, manager of planning and engineering sector department. It will produce 200 megawatts from solar panels covering the roofs of residential units and other buildings in its area. The city will recycle over 40,000 cubic meters of water, and that it will be fully sustainable and self-supporting in terms of its resources, transport and most importantly its energy. The work on the 'Dubai Smart Sustainable City' will start immediately and is expected to finish by Dubai's expo time of 2020.

Hollywood studio DreamWorks Animation will partner with the company behind the London Eye Ferris wheel for a Shrek-themed attraction on the capital's South Bank. Shrek's Far-Far Away Adventure will be one of six similar sites across the globe. The attraction is due to open in summer 2015 and will celebrate the four-film animated fantasy saga about a grumpy green ogre that has so far taken more than US$ 3.5 billion at the worldwide box office, as well as other films from DreamWorks Animation. "The 1860 square meters experience will be based on a brand-new adventure being written by the DreamWorks team," said the studio and partner Merlin in a statement. "It will feature a Shrek interactive walk-through adventure, a character courtyard where visitors will be able to meet Shrek and his swamp friends, along with characters from Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda and How to Train Your Dragon." The attraction will be installed at County Hall, near the London Eye, the London Sea Life Aquarium and the London Dungeon, all of which are owned by Merlin. The theme park operator is the largest company of its kind in Europe. "We're excited to work with Merlin to build something that we think is going to be a singularly unique way to experience Shrek and his world," said DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg. "This attraction is going to be unlike anything that currently exists and will undoubtedly become a new type of destination for families." The London Shrek attraction will be the first to open, with a further five sites set to be built between now and 2023.

India has pledged to build the world's most powerful solar plant. With a nominal capacity of 4,000 megawatts, comparable to that of four full-size nuclear reactors, the "Ultra-Mega Green Solar Power Project" will be more than ten times larger than any other solar project built so far, and it will spread over 77 square kilometers of land - greater than the island of Manhattan. The first phase of the project, which will be for 1,000 megawatt capacity, is expected to be completed in three years. Six state-owned companies have formed a joint venture to execute the project, which they say can be completed in 7 years at a projected cost of US$ 4.4 billion. The proposed location is near Sambhar Salt Lake in the northern state of Rajasthan. The solar photovoltaic power plant will have an estimated life of 25 years and is expected to supply 6.4 billion kilowatt-hours per year, according to official figures. It could help to reduce India's carbon dioxide emissions by more than 4 million tons per year, estimates Parimita Mohanty, a fellow at the Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) in New Delhi. India currently has a grid-connected solar-power capacity of 2,208 MW - up from a mere 17.8 MW in 2010, when the central government launched the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM). The JNNSM aims for India to reach an installed capacity of 20,000 MW (or 20 gig watts) of solar power by 2022.