According to Knight Frank company research, luxury house prices in Paris rose by 22.2 percent in the year to march 2011. Prime property in Paris recorded the strongest price growth of all the cities monitored within the Knight Frank Prime Global Cities Index. This increase is driven primarily by supply constraints and growing interest from overseas buyers. As mentioned in research, overall, the cities recorded an average annual price growth of 6.6% compared to 12.7% a year earlier. A year ago there was a clear continental divide when it came to the performance of the world's prime property markets. Asian cities occupied the top rankings for price inflation while Europe and the US trailed far behind. A year on and the global picture is less clear cut. According to research, the second place is Hong Kong by 15 percent and the third is Helsinki by 12.2 percent. First five places are concluded Shanghai and Beijing respectively by 11 and by 10 percent increase. In London and in Singapore luxury house prices increased by 8.6 percent. Moscow's prime residential market recorded the weakest performance, with prices declining by 8 percent. However, the rate of decline is slowing, with 0.7 percent recorded in the last quarter.

The Scandinavia's largest hotel opened recently in Copenhagen, Denmark. It symbolizes not only the identity of the modern Orested area of Copenhagen, but also marks the Capital's increasing importance on the international convention and congress scene. Its location also ensures direct access to the international conference and exhibition venue, Bella Center, Copenhagen Airport and the historical Copenhagen city center. Project's customer is Bella Center, and 3XN architectural company has designed The Bella Sky Hotel. Ramboll Cosnculting engineering Group participated in the project as consulting engineer on structures, sewers and earthworks and the senior project manager is Kaare K.B. Dahl. "One of our biggest challenges was to grasp and handle the very complex geometry and to do this TEKLA has proved invaluable" Kaare K.B. Dahl explains. All calculations and drawings used by Ramboll on the project were extracted from a 3D model. The calculation program ROBOT worked together with the design program TEKLA. This 3D structural building information modeling (BIM) system provides you with the ability to create all types of complex structures. The combination of these two programs made it possible to calculate things such as: How will the earth deform when the building settles? How far will the top of the building move sideways in the present conditions? Every detail was entered into the model which incorporated all changes into the 2D drawings generated directly from the 3D model. The Bella Sky Hotel Consists of two towers. The two towers lean 15 degrees to each side. Two towers leaning in opposite directions at an almost four times that of the leaning tower of Pisa. The geometrical dare continues as the top nine floors of tower one and the bottom nine floors of tower two both twist an additional 19 degrees horizontally. They are 76.5 meters tall with a total of 814 rooms and a building area of 44,173 thousand square meters. Accommodating 814 rooms, 32 conference rooms, 3 restaurants, lounge, a sky bar and a 850 square meter wellness centre the hotel will meet the wishes of a much needed extension to the Bella Centre Conference facilities and prepare Copenhagen to host large international events in the future. Kim Herforth Nielsen, Principal and Founder of 3XN said "Most international convention hotels have a formal and impersonal style. We wanted to address this by doing the opposite. We designed the interior of Bella Sky in a style reminiscent of a tasteful Scandinavian home with warmth, light and connection to nature."

As reported by Inhabitat.com, last week South Korea inaugurated the world's first solar-powered and largest floating island on Hangang River in Seoul. With two more islands slated to open in September, the recently opened Viva is already drawing crowds en masse with its first-rate entertainment complex. The stunning structure includes a 700 seat convention hall, restaurants and arcades - all powered by solar energy. When the development is completed, the trio of islands will be linked together by twenty-three weather-proof chains. Seoul's man-made islands differ from those common to Dubai, which are constructed by building up sand on the ocean floor. Viva, and its satellite islands, instead float, and are buoyant on the river's surface. Should there be a flood, the islands while rise and fall with the water levels, rather than be flooded over. A high tech tracking system will alert a controller should the islands float too far from their home site, due to changing water levels. Supported by 24 giant airbags, Viva weighs in at 2,000 tons, but can support building facilities up to 6,400 tons. The island will be harnessed by chains to a 500 ton concrete block to keep it in place. The three story building which holds all facilities is covered with 54 square meters of solar panels, which produced 6 kilowatts of energy each day, providing the facilities below with electricity, and also illuminating the facades at night. The $83.9 million dollar government project includes the 3.2 thousand square meters Viva, 1.3 thousand square meters Vista and nearly 371 square meters Tera. Combined, they will host international conventions, water sports events, restaurants, cultural performances and exhibitions. All three islands should be open by late August 2011.

As reported by Reuters a five-year project for French engineering group Alstom to build an above-ground urban metro line in Baghdad will cost $1.5 billion and be funded by the French government and banks, according to Iraqi officials. The planned line, with a capacity to carry 30,000 passengers an hour, will have 22 km of track and 14 stations linking northern Baghdad districts with the city centre. France's Alstom signed a memorandum of understanding for the deal in January. A follow-up agreement signed in Baghdad on 30 May paved the way for French financing for the project. "The company has obtained agreement from several French banks and the French government to implement this project," Shaker al-Zamili, head of the Baghdad Investment Commission, told Reuters. A final accord on the Baghdad metro project would have to be approved by the Iraqi cabinet, he added. The loan would be repaid by Iraq after the railway started operating, through a mechanism yet to be determined, Zamili added. Iraq's roads, railways, ports and power plants have been badly decayed by years of war, economic sanctions and underinvestment. Alstom is a large French multinational conglomerate which holds interests in the power generation and transport markets. Alstom is active in the field of hydroelectric power generation, in conventional islands for nuclear power plants, and in environmental control systems. Alstom is also present in the urban transport market, and is behind regional train models, signaling infrastructure equipment, and a number of associated services.

As reported news agency Xinhua, construction of a tunnel that will traverse Trola Mountain in southwestern Sichuan Province began on June 1. At an altitude of 4.24 to 4.38 kilometers, the Trola Mountain tunnel will be the world's highest on a highway. As part of Sichuan-Tibet Highway that links Chengdu, Sichuan in the east with Lhasa, Tibet in the west. The 7-kilometers tunnel will shorten travel time across the mountain from more than two hours to only about 10 minutes, construction manager Li Ming said. He also added that, workers must first build an approach that is 14.06 kilometers long on the east side of the mountain. The tunnel is scheduled to be completed in four years with an investment of $US173 million. The 2,415 thousand kilometers Sichuan-Tibet highway is considered one the world's most deadly as it traverses a dozen rivers and 14 mountains with altitudes of 4 to 5 kilometers. China has spent nearly $ US 21.6 billion on development of 188 key projects in Tibet between 2005 and 2010, and key among them are projects that link Tibet to the rest of China. And the governments of Sichuan and Tibet are planning to build more tunnels on several key mountains to improve traffic.