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‘Vanity projects’: China to introduce tighter limits on skyscrapers

skyscrapers

‘Vanity projects’: China to introduce tighter limits on skyscrapers

China has said it will restrict smaller cities from building “super skyscrapers”, as a part of a broader crackdown on “vanity projects” and to reduce energy consumption.

Skyscrapers taller than 150 metres will be “strictly” limited, and those higher than 250 metres will be banned for cities with a population of fewer than 3 million.

The authorities will also limit structures taller than 250 meres for cities with more than 3 million people.

This is not the first time Chinese regulators have stepped in to limit the height of skyscrapers. In July, China’s National Development and Reform Commission banned new skyscrapers taller than 500 metres and restricted those taller than 250 metres.

The regulator also tightened the rules for buildings taller than 100 metres. They included requirements for the towers’ anti-earthquake capability, and whether they could match the fire and rescue capability in the cities they are located.

The latest statement was jointly issued this week by China’s Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and Ministry of Emergency Management, a cabinet-level executive department responsible for emergency management and work safety.

China is home to some of the world’s mega towers. The 128-storey, 632-metre-tall Shanghai Tower, for example, is the world’s second-tallest building. And for years the fast-developing country has been an experiment for ambitious international architects such as the late Zaha Hadid.

But the authorities have in recent years found it increasingly difficult to manage these buildings. Reports of potential health and safety incidents in these skyscrapers often appear in state media and on social media.

In May, a near-300-metre (980ft) building in southern Shenzhen began mysteriously shaking, prompting an evacuation of people inside while pedestrians looked on in horror. It was later found to have been caused by a combination of winds, underground rail lines and fluctuating temperatures.

In recent years, regulators have openly criticised some of the bold designs, calling them “vanity projects” that would only encourage Chinese cities to compete with each other in the wrong way. Earlier this year, Beijing issued a ban on “ugly architecture”.

According to the Global Times, regulators last year issued a document clarifying how to further strengthen the management of architecture in Chinese cities. They concluded that large buildings that had a strange style were “a waste of resources”.

Architecture websites such as archcy.com encourage citizens to spot curious designs around the country and vote for a “hall of shame” listing of China’s top 10 “ugliest” buildings.

The organiser of the competition said the purpose of the vote was to “provoke thinking about the beauty of and ugliness of architecture and promote architects’ social responsibility”.

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Bandits kill one, kidnap district head, eight others in Kebbi

Bandits have kidnapped Alhaji Isah Daya, the district head of Kanya under the Danko/Wasagu Local Government Area of Kebbi State.

The bandits kidnapped the monarch and eight others when they stormed his village on Saturday, October 5, 2024.

The bandits also k!lled one and injured three persons during the attack.

The spokesperson for the State Police Command, Nafui Abubakar, who confirmed the attack, gave the name of the deceased as Sherriff Alhaji Almu.

According to the PPRO, a combined security team led by the police has launched a manhunt on the abductors of the monarch to rescue the abducted persons.

He noted that the Kebbi State Government has provided the needed logistics to tame banditry in the affected towns, particularly Kebbi South, Zuru Emirate.

The attack came a few days after bandits k!lled the Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the Suru Local Government Area of the state.

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FG mobilises Julius Berger to complete N820b road projects

The Federal Government has told Julius Berger Nigeria Plc to fast-track the completion of the rehabilitation of the 82-kilometre Section II of the Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano dual carriageway and the construction of the Bodo-Bonny road with bridges across the Opobo Channel, Route 430 in Rivers State.

Works Minister David Umahi said the government could not continually negotiate with the contractor over the same projects.

In a statement in Abuja by his Special Adviser on Media, Uchenna Orji, during a meeting with Julius Berger, represented by its Executive Director for Projects, Benjamin Bott, and the Head of Contract Management, Omonigho Brown, the minister stressed the need for contractors handling Federal Government’s projects to exhibit corporate nationalism in price negotiation in the face of the daunting economic challenges facing the country.

Umahi said the Federal Executive Council (FEC), at its meeting on September 23, approved the re-scoping and downward review of the contracts.

He said: “We have Section II, which is 82 kilometres by two, which is the section that JBN Plc is working on.

“And so, if you check what FEC approved on September 23, FEC had approved that the total contract sum within the scope of Berger would be N740 billion. This means that if you remove N391 billion paid already, you now have about N340 billion remaining. This is the scope of their work for the 164 kilometres.”

The minister urged the contractor to mobilise for work on the four sections of the Abuja-Zaria-Kaduna-Kano project to finish the job within 14 months.

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Police thwart plan by armed men to kidnap a foreigner in Anambra, recover four dead bodies

Police Operatives in the morning of Sunday, October 6th, 2024 thwarted the abduction/kidnapping plan of a foreigner by suspected armed secessionist members in Ogbunka village.

The Operatives courageously engaged the hoodlums in a gun battle and saved the VIP.

SP Tochukwu Ikenga, Police Public Relations Officer who disclosed this in a statement said during the gun duel, two Police Operatives who were hit by bullet escaped with the foreigner.

He added that they are stable and are currently receiving treatment in a hospital.

Meanwhile, Operations are ongoing in the area for the possible arrest of the Armed men.

Also, Police operatives attached to Nimo Police Station responded to a distress call on 6/10/2024 by 8:25 pm of a suspected cult clash at Umuka, Nawfia. The Operatives upon arriving at the scene, found four lifeless bodies of young men in a pool of blood with suspected multiple gunshot injuries lying on the road.

The victims were confirmed dead by a doctor on duty and have been deposited to the morgue.

They were later identified as one Ebuka Nwaonkwube Ekenta of Mmimi village Nawfia, Nnatuanya Junior A.K: A Starboy of Mmimi village Nawfia, Aniemena A.K.A Osama of Umuariam Village and one Ahmed Auwal.

Information from eyewitnesses and some villagers reveal that the victims are known for their nefarious activities and are always in rivalry with another cult group in the area.

Furthermore, Joint patrol with Operatives of the Special Anit Cultism Squad (SPACS) has been intensified in the area.

In another development, the Commissioner of Police *CP Nnaghe Obono Itam* has ordered
immediate investigations into the gruesome murder of a 17-year-old girl suspected of being used for ritual purpose.

The girl’s lifeless body was found in a bush at Omasi village on 6/10/2024 by 4:25 pm and she was later identified as one Chinasa Adigwe from Umueje village and her private parts were cut off in a bush at Omasi Village before Police were alerted. The body has been recovered and deposited in a morgue.

The CP while condoling with the family, friends and Community of the deceased states that the Police shall do everything possible to make sure that those behind the barbaric act are arrested and justice served.

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