I finished the book "Last Kings of Shanghai" (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48890489-the-last-kings-...) a few days ago and it has some overlap with this article. It's a very good and interesting read if you are curious about this part of the history, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Opium Wars etc.
I'm quite disappointed by the article. It's not really about two Shanghais. Sure, it mentions an alleged divide, but it then doesn't actually explore the contrast but spends most of the time with skyscaper porn. I'm sure the average Shanghaian would be a little offended if their city is reduced to those.
> I was initially fascinated by the amount of engineering that goes into extreme buildings. That fascination shifted as I started to see skyscrapers as cultural markers, and the results of complex systems of economics and politics.
A summary of what it is since the above link is talking a while about commentary on criticisms of the skyscraper curse before actually discussing it;
Record breaking skyscrapers rarely make sense because they are expensive to build and hard to fill, so their groundbreaking is associated with the late period of a time of easy credit and low rates.
Readit News
Can highly recommend it!
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I don't think any field is free from this adage.
https://mises.org/online-book/skyscraper-curse-and-how-austr...
There's an interesting correlation between the business cycle and record breaking skyscrapers.
Record breaking skyscrapers rarely make sense because they are expensive to build and hard to fill, so their groundbreaking is associated with the late period of a time of easy credit and low rates.
> the skyscraper curse involves an economic crisis, not the ordinary ebbs and flows of the typical business cycle.