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This article was first published 12 years ago

Look at the building boom world over!

Last updated on: October 17, 2011 16:49 IST

Image: People work on a street sign near residential towers in Jumeirah Beach Residence (JBR).
Photographs: Jumana El Heloueh/Reuters.

Fast paced urbanisation has taken a toll on the environment.

As the world's green cover gets replaced by a concrete jungle, climatic conditions across the world have changed for the worse.

The natural desire to keep cool and entertained in the Gulf's hostile climate has helped make the United Arab Emirates one of the world's top five power consumers per capita while emissions of climate-warming carbon from Emiratis are more than twice those of US citizens.

Dubai alone used nearly 34,000 gigawatt hours (GWh) of electricity, with 46 percent being used by the commercial sector and nearly 30 percent in housing.

Here's a look at the rising urban residential structures...

Look at the building boom world over!

Image: Five blocks of the 66-floor Grand Promenade.
Photographs: Bobby Yip/Reuters

A private development each measuring 219 meters is seen on eastern Hong Kong island. About 25 percent of the world's tallest 100 residential buildings that stand at least 200 meters tall are in the territory.

The world's population is projected to reach seven billion on October 31, according to projections by the United Nations, which says this global milestone presents both an opportunity and a challenge for the planet.

While more people are living longer and healthier lives, says the U.N., gaps between rich and poor are widening and more people than ever are vulnerable to food insecurity and water shortages.

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Look at the building boom world over!

Image: luxury residential tower in New York.
Photographs: Brendan McDermid/Reuters.

A resident sits outside on the terrace of 'New York' by Gehry, Frank Gehry's new 76-storey, luxury residential tower in New York.

The tower is five minutes from the site of the World Trade Center's twin towers destroyed in the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Forest City Enterprises spent $875 million for the building, which includes a public school on the first four floors, and received $190 million in low-cost Liberty Bonds.

Half its 903 units have been rented since it opened in March.

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Look at the building boom world over!

Image: Housing Development Board (HDB) apartments.
Photographs: Joel Boh/Reuters.

Housing Development Board (HDB) apartments are reflected on a lake before dawn in eastern Singapore.

Among non-Singaporean property buyers that comprise of foreigners and Permanent Residents, mainland Chinese buyers from China made up 26 percent of purchases and were the top purchasers of residential properties for the second consecutive quarter.

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Look at the building boom world over!

Image: Residential buildings in Shenyang.
Photographs: Toby Melville/Reuters.

A train runs past newly-built residential buildings in Shenyang, Liaoning province.

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Look at the building boom world over!

Image: An old public housing estate flat in Singapore.
Photographs: Tim Chong/Reuters.

A man walks along a common corridor of an old public housing estate flat in the Katong residential area in Singapore. 

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Look at the building boom world over!

Image: A public housing estate in Singapore.
Photographs: Clarissa Cavalheiro/Reuters.

National flags are seen hanging from balconies at a public housing estate in Singapore. 

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Look at the building boom world over!

Image: A newly built skyscraper in Beijing.
Photographs: Reinhard Krause/Reuters.

A construction worker makes final touches in a newly built skyscraper in Beijing. 

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Look at the building boom world over!

Image: A building at the beach of Torremolinos.
Photographs: Jon Nazca/Reuters.

A view of a building at the beach of Torremolinos, near Malaga, Spain.

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Look at the building boom world over!

Image: A building in Spain.
Photographs: Vincent West/Reuters.

People listen to a pre-electoral meeting from balconies adorned with Basque flags and posters in Pasajes San Juan, Spain. 

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Look at the building boom world over!

Image: Flats in London
Photographs: Luke MacGregor/Reuters.

A man stands on his balcony in a block of flats in London. 

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Look at the building boom world over!

Image: Shanghai.
Photographs: Reuters.

A view of a residential building in Shanghai. 

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Look at the building boom world over!

Image: Residential building in Xiangfan.

Workers paint the exterior of an unfinished residential building in Xiangfan, Hubei province.

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Look at the building boom world over!

Image: David Gray/Reuters.

A woman looks out over the city as she stands on the balcony of a large hotel located in central Beijing. 

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Look at the building boom world over!

Image: A residential apartment block in Berlin.
Photographs: Pawel Kopczynski/Reuters.

National flags, some of nations competing in the soccer World Cup 2006, adorn a residential apartment block in Berlin.

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Look at the building boom world over!

Image: A shoe factory.
Photographs: Carlos Barria/Reuters.

An apartment complex for labourers who work at a shoe factory is seen in the city of Wenzhou, in Zhejiang province. 

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Look at the building boom world over!

Image: Painted satellite dishes at an apartment building.
Photographs: Tobias Schwarz/Reuters.

Painted satellite dishes designed by German artist Daniel Knipping are set up at an apartment building in Berlin's Schoeneberg district. 

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Look at the building boom world over!

Image: A residential building in Shanghai.
Photographs: Reuters.

A view shows a residential building in Shanghai. 

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Look at the building boom world over!

Image: Doves sing in cages.
Photographs: Pablo Sanchez/Reuters.

Doves sing in cages hung on the top of poles during a bird singing competition in Singapore. 

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Look at the building boom world over!

Image: A building in Diar El Kehf, Algiers.
Photographs: Farouk Batiche/Reuters.

A woman looks out of a window of a building in Diar El Kehf, Algiers.