Cities in the Sky: The Quest to Build the World's Tallest Skyscrapers

by Jason M. Barr

From one of the world’s top experts on the economics of skyscrapers—a fascinating account of the ever-growing quest for super tall buildings across the globe. The world’s skyscrapers have brought us awe and wonder, and yet they remain controversial—for their high costs, shadows, and overt grandiosity. But, decade by decade, they keep getting higher and higher. What is driving this global building spree of epic proportions? In Cities in the Sky, author Jason Barr explains why they appeal to cities and nations, how they get financed, why they succeed economically, and how they change a city’s skyline and enable the world’s greatest metropolises to thrive in the 21st century. From the Empire State Building (1,250 feet) to the Shanghai Tower (2,073 feet) and everywhere in between, Barr explains the unique architectural and engineering efforts that led to the creation of each. Along the way, Barr visits and unpacks some surprising myths about the earliest skyscrapers and the growth of American skylines after World War II, which incorporated a new suite of technologies that spread to the rest of the world in the 1990s. Barr also explores why London banned skyscrapers at the end of the 19th century but then embraced them in the 21st and explains how Hong Kong created the densest cluster of skyscrapers on the planet. Also covered is the dramatic result of China’s “skyscraper fever” and then on to the Arabian Peninsula to see what drove Dubai to build the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, which at 2,717 feet, is higher than the new One World Trade Center in New York by three football fields. Filled with fascinating details for urbanists, architecture buffs, and urban design enthusiasts alike, Cities in the Sky addresses the good, bad, and ugly for cities that have embraced vertical skylines and offers us a glimpse to the future to see whether cities around the world will continue their journey ever upwards.

Genres: Nonfiction, Economics, Architecture, History, Urban, Cities, Audiobook

371 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 14, 2024

Reviews

[Simms · Rating 4 out of 5]

I struggle a little with my rating here. Based on my own enjoyment, it's probably a 3-star book. I'm mildly interested in, but not wild for, skyscrapers and architecture and economics. It's a detailed and informative book about the economics of skyscrapers, exactly what it sets itself out to be. But, let's be real: if you're reading this, you probably ARE wild for skyscrapers. If that's what you're looking for, 5 stars all around. So let's split the difference and call it 4 stars. Just know what you're getting.

Thanks to NetGalley and Scribner for the ARC.

[Christy Matthews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good - lots of interesting and uncommon facts about skyscrapers and their construction, along with economic impacts. Novel topic.

[DJ_Keyser · Rating 2 out of 5]

Going by the title, I expected an informative document charting the global rise of skyscrapers, the social, economic and political factors that drove the trend, and the technology that enabled the construction. Unfortunately, Jason M. Barr doesn’t spend enough time on these details, and spends what feels like at least half the time in advocation mode for tall cities, glossing over issues and concerns, and over-elaborating the benefits. I’d rather he avoided entering into a debate altogether, and just concentrated on the builds themselves. As it stands, he comes across as desperate to prove their worth to society, and it spoilt the awe and appreciation that could’ve resulted if he simply let the structures speak for themselves.

[Blair · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Cities in the Sky” is a book about the history of skyscrapers and mankind’s quest to build the world’s tallest buildings.

The author starts with American cities – Chicago and New York – as the originators of skyscrapers, and he takes us on a tour of select cities where these tall and supertall buildings appear including Hong Kong and China, Dubai and some cities in Asia including Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok.

He talks of the mix of economic, geographical, technological, cultural and personal reasons for skyscrapers and explains how different cities have decided to ban (Dublin) encourage (China) or ensure that the construction of very tall buildings happens only in specified zones (London in the 21st Century.)

There are many things that I had seen but not realised about skyscrapers that the book taught me. These include:

1. Regulations determine the height and shape of skyscrapers. It was the combination of setback multiples, and art deco design, that drove the “wedding cake design” of the Empire State Building. (Page 45.)

2. Floor Area Ratios (FAR) help determine modern skyscrapers in many, if not most, cities around the world. (See diagram Page 51.)

3. Units in apartment buildings are not normally expected to run more than 30 feet long, since sunlight will not penetrate that deeply. (Page 63.)

4. Technology powered building and none more important than electricity for both interior lighting and electric powered elevators. (Page 99.)

5. The World Trade Centre’s Twin Towers could move some 13 feet or 4 meters out of their plumb position during Hurricane force winds. This could cause motion sickness as I experienced during a Typhoon in my 29th Floor apartment in Mid- Levels in Hong Kong.

6. The big firms are SOM, KPF and Gensler. (I only knew of the star architects Foster, Gehry, and Pei.)

The book was a light read and had photos and diagrams to support his points.

But I felt there were quite a few things selectively left out in the book.

I was puzzled why the book started with America, when it probably should have spent time on the rise of tall structures in history. The story of ten story buildings in late 19th Century Chicago should have begun with the earliest known multi-story buildings in Shibam, Yemen in the 9th Century or the Towered City of Bologna in the 12th and 13th Century.

Perhaps this was done because the author is American and wanted to ground the origin story of skyscrapers in America?

The author also did not cover failures in skyscrapers of which the Ryugyoung Hotel at 330 meters remains unfinished in Pyongyang. Why did this fail and what will be done with it?

That said, the article didn’t cover the lifespan of skyscrapers or what do you do when they decay? How does one repair and/or demolish something as big as The Empire State Building in a crowded city like New York City?

While it was an interesting book, it seemed to be based on Skyscrapers “Greatest Hits” or the author's "Playlist" of skyscrapers, rather than be a global survey of the subject.

I felt it came up short of my expectations.

[Frank Stein · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite the title, this is really a 150 year look at the history, economics, and effects of skyscrapers. It is easy, readable, and informative. Barr is clearly a skyscraper partisan, but he is willing to note when the research shows other effects. He does note that steel releases about 2.5 tons of carbon per ton, and concrete about 0.5 tons, while wood is basically a carbon sink, meaning that skyscrapers do tend to have more "embodied" carbon. Energy use per square foot is higher, although the increase in energy use declines the further up you go. A 2007 review showed negative psychological effects of living on higher floors, especially for families. Shadows reduce nearby property values by over 2% per hour of sunlight blocked.

But obviously skyscrapers have loads of benefits that should be more widely appreciated. He notes that surveys of psychological effects mainly used studies from the mid-century when terrible modernist skyscraper blocks blighted the landscape. The value of apartments goes up by about half a percent a floor, showing that people appreciate the higher levels. There is a strong correlation between the number of skyscrapers in a city and of the tallest skyscraper, showing it is not just vanity that causes the tallest ones to go up (although St. Petersburg and some other places do disproportionately tall ones). There is a strong correlation between GDP and the number of skyscrapers, although some places are "underskyscrapered" (especially Ireland, but also California.)

On the whole this is both a wonderful introduction to the subject and a thoughtful look at the economics and culture around tall buildings, which will be ever more important and ever taller in the future.

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Solid And Seemingly Comprehensive Examination Of The Topic. This is a book that takes a look at the ever-evolving quest to build the world's tallest skyscrapers, from its origins in the 19th century (and the debate over who first created what) all the way through Summer 2023, when the book was being written. Along the way we learn of various periods of American skyscraper construction - yes, including Sears Tower, the Empire State Building, the World Trade Center towers, and others. But we *also* get just as detailed a view of skyscraper construction in other areas of the world and how each builds on advances in the other locations as time progresses. We visit the Middle East and learn of its mega projects. We visit Hong Kong in both the Colonial and Chinese eras. We visit Taiwan and China and see how their standoff plays out in their construction efforts. Along the way, we get the histories and economics of how and why such structures are wanted and what makes them profitable - hint, it isn't always the rents they generate from tenants. We even get a solid examination of the arguments for and against such structures, along with the (seemingly requisite in this type of book) predictions for the future and a few suggestions for how to make those predictions become reality.

Overall truly an interesting book, well written for the average reader - yes, there is some jargon, but Barr does a solid job of using it sparingly and explaining it reasonably well when he does. Also reasonably well documented, clocking in at 20% of the text of the Advance Review Copy edition I read.

Very much recommended.

[W. Derek Atkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

When it comes to skyscrapers, Hollywood likes to tell the story of the architect who designs a towering work of art for noble reasons, while the man (usually always men) who puts up the money for the skyscraper seeks only to stroke his ego. According to Jason M. Barr, that's not quite how things happen. Yes, many men who put up the money to build ever-taller skyscrapers do have egos, but that's not the only reason for building skyscrapers, nor is it really the main reason. The main reason, and the central point of this book, is that skyscrapers are built for rational reasons -- because there is a demand for them when land becomes limited in growing cities, and because people like and want skyscrapers.

In this book, James M. Barr does an excellent job of not only tracing the history of skyscrapers, beginning with the first ones built in Chicago and New York and moving forward to today's record holders such as the Burj Khalifa. Barr also makes his case that skyscrapers are built because they make economic sense and offers a number of recommendations for how cities can literally build better futures with skyscrapers. He notes both the benefits and drawbacks of skyscrapers, but essentially holds an optimistic view skyscrapers, including his belief that ever-taller skyscrapers will continue to be built in the coming decades.

[Phoenix Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

7/10 Really enjoyable read, lots of fun facts about the worlds tallest towers, and their history. While I was expecting more in the design and building process of skyscrapers, I was delighted that the book more looked at the structures in a holistic sense, exploring the economics, culture, and history of them and how they and their respected country/city impact each other. While I overall enjoyed the book and thought the author took a respectable numerical and objective approach to most of his statements and findings, the majority of the writing still felt biased towards skyscrapers; overlooking issues or glossing over them, but maybe that is still just me falling for tall building stigma. Would recommend for anyone interested in architecture and economics, and I only would wish for a splash of more diagrams.

[Tawney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whether it is an anonymous apartment tower or an eyecatching corporate headquarters Jason Barr will tell you that the bottom line is why it was built. As an economist Barr looks at cities with a perspective not everyone shares. His main thesis is that tall buildings are constructed because they are useful and economically viable. He sets out to explain by surveying the history and growth patterns of a handful of cities around the world. Some embrace density and height. In others one or several competing forces shape the environment. It’s a really interesting book whether you find yourself in agreement or opposition to Barr’s arguments.

[Roger Smitter · Rating 5 out of 5]

The theme of the book comes really from the second label: “The Quest to Build the World’s Tallest Skyscrapers.” That’s what a reader learns and enjoys.

The early part of the book focuses on the idea of big (meaning really big) buildings. There is some big surprises about buildings and who was the biggest one in one time. And there these’s 18n pages of “Bibliography.”

Yes, it seems to be a book for someone who wants to learn stuff about buildings. And sometimes it is BUT the whole piece is very good.

[Cody Knepprath · Rating 2 out of 5]

tried to enjoy this book, but having the first chapter be about dismissing the person who had purportedly been the father of skyscrapers turned me off to it a bit. Part III was fine and the Hong Kong chapter was cool, but I couldn’t bring myself to try the other chapters after I couldn’t get through New York.

The 2/5th-ish of the book I read I can summarize here: skyscrapers are economically viable when land values are high enough to make them economically viable. They won’t be financed unless they can turn profits.

Finished on the barge on okauchee

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a solid overview on the topic, although I was much more interested in the aesthetics/socio-political aspect of this type of urbanism than in the engineering specs...which is probably why I didn't enjoy it as much as I hoped I would.

[Roberta Westwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well researched

Well researched book by an expert in high rise buildings. Global perspective with examples around the globe. Interesting insights on the cost effectiveness of building higher, and our quest for the sky. Love living in a skyscraper, so great to imagine all these buildings!

[Thomas Womack · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book about skyscrapers from an economic rather than from an engineering perspective: we know how to build things that we have no idea how to fund or how to find the political will to justify, and so the funding and the politics are in an important sense the interesting part.

[Joe Bellew · Rating 1 out of 5]

The introduction should be enough to alienate most readers. The overuse of “quotation marks” is a pet peeve of mine. This author is the “king” of quotation marks that aren’t quoting anyone or anything. Plus: the book is poorly written “junk” science.

[pianogal · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good read. I hate going up in skyscrapers, but find reading about the people that create them captivating.

[Robyn]

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