Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Arctic Circle
RUSSIA
60
°
Moscow
CANADA
GER.
Toronto
N.
KOREA
Chicago
Beijing
New York
JAPAN
40
°
Seoul
TURKEY
UNITED STATES
Philadelphia
SPAIN
Incheon
CHINA
S. KOREA
Tokyo
Atlanta
Dallas
ATLANTIC
OCEAN
Wuhan
KUWAIT
Shanghai
ISRAEL
Houston
Dubai
Manama
Shenzhen
Guangzhou
Tropic of Cancer
TAIWAN
SAUDI
ARABIA
U.A.E.
20
°
Hong Kong
THAILAND
PACIFIC
OCEAN
PHILIPPINES
PACIFIC
OCEAN
MALAYSIA
Kuala Lumpur
0
Equator
Singapore
°
INDIAN
OCEAN
INDONESIA
NUMBER OF BUILDINGS
OVER 780 FEET TALL
10 or more
6-9
3-5
1-2
20
°
Tropic of Capricorn
AUSTRALIA
Sydney
Melbourne
40
°
0
2000
4000 Kilometers
0
1000
2000 Miles
160
°
140
°
120
°
100
°
80
°
60
°
40
°
20
°
0
°
40
°
60
°
80
°
100
°
120
°
140
°
20
°
160
°
60
°
Antarctic Circle
SOUTHERN
OCEAN
Figure 4.23
World Distribution of Skyscrapers.
Number of skyscrapers that are taller than 700
feet.
Data from
: Emporis, Inc., 2005.
forms and planning ideas have diffused around the world
(Fig. 4.23). In the second half of the 1800s, with advance-
ments in steel production and improved costs and effi -
ciencies of steel use, architects and engineers created the
fi rst skyscrapers. The Home Insurance Building of
Chicago is typically pointed to as the fi rst skyscraper. The
fundamental difference between a skyscraper and another
building is that the outside walls of the skyscraper do not
bear the major load or weight of the building; rather, the
internal steel structure or skeleton of the building bears
most of the load.
From Singapore to Johannesburg and from Caracas
to Toronto, the commercial centers of major cities are
dominated by tall buildings, many of which have been
designed by the same architects and engineering fi rms.
With the diffusion of the skyscraper around the world, the
cultural landscape of cities has been profoundly impacted.
Skyscrapers require substantial land clearing in the vicin-
ity of individual buildings, the construction of wide,
straight streets to promote access, and the reworking of
transportation systems around a highly centralized model.
Skyscrapers are only one example of the globalization of a
particular landscape form. The proliferation of skyscrap-
ers in Taiwan, Malaysia, and China in the 1990s marked
the integration of these economies into the major players
in the world economy (Fig. 4.24). Today, the growth of
skyscrapers in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, signals the
world city status of the place.
Reading signs is an easy way to see the second dimen-
sion of cultural landscape convergence: the far-fl ung stamp
of global businesses on the landscape. Walking down the
streets of Rome, you will see signs for Blockbuster and
Pizza Hut. The main tourist shopping street in Prague
hosts Dunkin' Donuts and McDonald's. A tourist in
Munich, Germany, will wind through streets looking for
the city's famed beer garden since 1589, the Hofbräuhaus,
and will happen upon the Hard Rock Café, right next door
(Fig. 4.25). If the tourist had recently traveled to Las Vegas,
he may have déjà vu. The Hofbräuhaus Las Vegas, built in
2003, stands across the street from the Hard Rock Hotel
and Casino. The storefronts in Seoul, South Korea, are
fi lled with Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, and Outback
Steakhouses. China is home to more than 3200 KFC res-
taurants, and its parent company Yum! controls 40 percent
of the fast-food market in China.
Marked landscape similarities such as these can be
found everywhere from international airports to shop-
ping centers. The global corporations that develop
spaces of commerce have wide-reaching impacts on the
cultural landscape. Architectural fi rms often specialize in
building one kind of space—performing arts centers,
medical laboratories, or international airports. Property
management companies have worldwide holdings and
encourage the Gap, the Cheesecake Factory, Barnes and
Noble, and other companies to lease space in all of their
holdings. Facilities, such as airports and college food
