US and Britain property developers leave the "Vanity Fair". The world's leading developers are sacrificing height and glitz for better returns. "The age of bling is over," said Ken Shuttleworth, famous British architect (from Norman Foster). "Money now drives everything, so if you can build something for half the price, you will," he said. Construction of several skyscrapers in the City, will be completed, but they may be the last. Commercial Estates Group Ltd. and Hammerson Plc last month said that they will review a plan to build a 63-story building. Instead of it appears quite compact, 32-storey building. "A tall building was proving very expensive, so we went back to the drawing board", said Martin Jepson, Hammerson's managing director for London. Developers in New-York also change their plans. One World Trade Center, which will be the western hemisphere's tallest tower when it opens in 2013, is one of several skyscrapers that may be built by the end of the decade in New-York. Decrease of tendency explains with high costs of skyscrapers. In London, high-rise buildings cost 50 pounds to 150 pounds more per square foot than shorter ones. That means the money needed to construct a skyscraper with 500,000 square feet (46,000 square meters) of space can be 150 million pounds, twice as much as a lower-rise structure with the same space. Such difference is explained by the fact that high-rise construction requires special engineering solutions, including the development of a powerful frame, and often unusual architectural techniques. Tall buildings are also less attractive to investors than shorter ones because tenants can't start moving in until the construction work is over. So it takes a very long time to get the first money from your investment. But large-scale architectural projects are not everywhere losing out. Skyscrapers boom reaches end, but only in certain parts of the world. Now they support the most functional and "green " projects. However, in Asia, which shows a steady increase in GDP, in the next 20 years will be dominated by the idea that the building should be high and attractive. So, the architects will continue to design skyscrapers, but now in China, India or Arab states.
All buildings in Dubai, including world highest skyscraper Burj Khalifa will receive a Quick Response Code. The QR Code is a two-dimensional code (or matrix code) that includes all detailed information about the building. This QR Code will enable officials, landlords and the public easy electronic access to rightfully authorised data and services of the municipality and other government departments of the city. Besides general information about the building-owners, landlords, the plan and the area, QR Code in case of fire will help a user to get the details of the exact location of the building and access the service of the civil defense immediately. By using camera phones with QR Code reader, that support barcode scanners, and scanning the codes, users can receive latest information about inspection visits, as well as violations and fines. This project is vital for Dubai, as there were no addresses there, all the streets weren't named and the buildings didn't have numbers either-they can be learned by official documents only. The Digital City project is also a part of the "Zero Visit" initiative of the municipality that aims at boosting its e-services to the optimum level so that customers will not be required to visit the DM centers for availing services and conducting transactions. QR Code is a two-dimensional code, developed by Japanese Denso-Wave company. These QR Codes contain various information, consisting black modules in a square pattern on a white background or including text, numbers, pictures and colors. Dubai will be the second city after New York to introduce QR Codes for building permit services.
On April British Chesterton consulting considered the world's property markets and has estimated how many years need a family to buy a luxury apartment. The first was Hong Kong. Here on the luxury housing an ordinary family has to save 205 years. The average cost of real estate is $ 3.6 million and an average annual household income is $ 17.5 thousand. In ranking the second place was Moscow, where to buy luxury housing family will have to make money for 113 years. "Chesterton" Analysts also estimated, that the average annual income of family in Moscow is $ 35.2 thousand, while the average price of luxury apartments - $ 3.9 million. It is more difficult to purchase luxury housing in London and in New York. Here the figures are 65 and 55 years respectively. In Kiev, with an average annual household income of $ 23 thousand and the price of luxury apartments in the $ 900 thousand, the rate of availability is 39 years. In Paris and Geneva for the purchase of luxury housing families have to spend 32 years. One of the lowest indicators (11 years) is observed in the United Arab Emirates in the Abu Dhabi. In addition to a high standard of living (annual income is about $ 144 thousand), experts attribute this to the fact that here house construction sector is very advanced. If we bring such rough calculation for Yerevan, we'll have following results; with the average annual income of a $7.0-$8.0 and an average cost of a luxury apartment of $250-300 thousands, an average income family living in Yerevan will have to pay for it about 35-40 years. However, as we see, Chesterton's calculations didn't assume other expenses, such as food, education, utilities, healthcare and so on, and surely, including all these costs will postpone apartment buying, and for an average Yerevan family the outlook for getting luxury apartment is almost unreachable.
Last year China passed a law that allows individuals or companies to hire uninhabited islands off the country's coast. In April China's Ocean and Fisheries Bureau announces the list of the 176 uninhabited islands, part of which can be offered for rent. These islands are to everyone's taste - most have an area of 500-1.000 square meters. There are islands at the north-eastern Liaoning province and by the tropical island of Hainan. The islands that are not classified as protected national areas and with the area more than 500 square meters can be rented for 50 years. There is no legal reason why foreigners or foreign companies cannot hire one for themselves. The prices for hiring an island has not been confirmed yet, most likely it will be set for each particular case and the closer the island to the shore the more it will cost. In case there are several bids for one island, the owner will be chosen through the auction by a high bidder. Those who wish to rent the island will need to submit a detailed plan for the future use. Officials are also interested in how the owner will decide the matter of waste disposal and landscaping of the island. Ocean and Fisheries Bureau continues an inventory of all the islands, which belong to China. According to data of 1998, China owns about 7 thousand islands with the area of more than 500 square meters. At the end of last year marine patrol services found more than 30 cases of illegal exploitation of the coastal islands. China's desire to use the offshore islands efficiently is quite logical and economically reasonable. However there are a lot of problems concerning with islands development, and first of all - high cost for the construction works (material supply and etc.), as well as providing drinking water, electricity and so on.
The last piece of turf was laid on Tuesday at the Olympic Stadium, symbolising the completion of building work on the 80 000-seat flagship venue for the 2012 London Games. Former Olympic sprinter Frank Fredericks used a shovel to lay down the symbolic last piece of grass on the infield, 16 months before next year's games. London organisers and International Olympic Committee officials visited the stadium to mark the milestone. Fredericks was among the members of the IOC coordination commission taking part in the ceremony at the Olympic Park in east London. The IOC panel is making its eighth visit to London to check on preparations for the games. Construction on the $777-million stadium began in May 2008. "The Olympic Stadium has been finished on time and under budget," Olympic Delivery Authority chairperson John Armitt said. A total of 360 rolls of turf were needed to cover the 9 000-square metre infield. The surface of the running track will be laid later this year. "We wouldn't want anyone to run away with the idea that this stadium is ready to stage an Olympic track and field championship tomorrow," organising committee chairperson Sebastian Coe said. "With one year and a few months to go, this is a great place to be."
