Shanghai Skyline (c) Ryan McLaughlin

Built on what is largely sandy marshland, according to the Shanghai Institute of Geology, the city has sunk more than two metres in the past 40 years. This sinking is believed to be connected to the massive amounts of steel and concrete being poured on top of the city to facilitate it’s massive expansion in all directions – including up.

Since the 1960s, the city has gone from 40 tall buildings to having about 1,000 buildings more than 100 meters in height. This rise in height of Shanghai’s skyline is nowhere more evident than in the row of uber-tall skyscrapers offering Bund visitors a myriade of technocolour photographs.

The Oriental Pearl Tower (1995), Jin Mao Tower (1999), Shanghai World Financial Center (2007) and recently started Shanghai Tower (estimated 2014) make Shanghai’s skyline one of the most easily recognizable in the world. But the massive buildings, and more so the overall urban development of the “Pearl of the Orient”, may be pushing the city lower and lower as global warming rises the sea level.

[from the article] The bad news is the sea level is rising due to global warming. A December 2007 report by the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development named Shanghai as among the world’s coastal cities most affected by climate change. It predicted that, unless proper controls are taken, more than 2.3 million people in the city would be affected by rising sea levels and storm tides by 2070, leading to more than US$ 70 billion in economic losses. The city’s water supply could be ruined by a salt tide, further stressing groundwater supplies.

It also stated:

Despite the delicate subterranean conditions of the Lujiazui area, where high-rises are concentrated, experts say the Shanghai Center should have no problems thanks to its innovative technology.

In charge of the building’s geological security evaluation is Jin Zongchuan, project manager of Shanghai Geotechnical Investigations and Design Institute Co. Ltd. He told Caijing the building passed a screening and his firm’s report was approved by the Shanghai Housing and Land Resources Administration in September.

Nevertheless, other experts say the problem is not about a single skyscraper but concerns the overall impact of a high concentration of massive high-rises built on a limited plot of land.

In fact, concerns that Shanghai is slipping into the sea have been bothered local officials for a long time. According to the Shanghai Urban Planning Administration, which has been monitoring the situation, land subsidence in the city center attributed to the impact of urban infrastructure — especially high-rises – has accounted for one-third of all land subsidence cases over the past 10 years.

Shanghai high-rises (c) Ryan McLaughlin

Perhaps it is time for the city to bring in a completely independent and unbiased (ie. foreign) group of researchers to investigate the situation. It’s a sad fact that there are few things that can’t be bought in China, and I wouldn’t trust anyone saying, “no no, there’s no problem – it’ll be fine. Trust us.” Particularly when their jobs depend on it being so.

The article finishes with this quote about the planning of the Lujiazui financial zone:

“Many of the problems we face now had been considered during the planning, but we did not give them full consideration at that time,” said Zhang Shiyu, vice president of Shanghai Urban Planning and Design Research Institute. “It seems rather difficult to make amends now.”

Does that throw a chill up anyone else’s spine?

(h/t to All Roads Lead To China on Twitter)