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I don't think that's true. Tall buildings, dating back to the pyramids, mean "I am Ozymandias, king of kings, look on my works ye mighty and despair." The difference is, decades ago it was us building pyramids, and now it's them.
There's a very real "the western world isn't all that" in most developing markets. Why'd they build the Petronas Towers? To show the world that Kuala Lumpur was a new center of industry. Why'd they build the Burj Khalifa? To show the world that Dubai was a new center of industry. Why'd they build the Empire State Building? To show that New York was a new center of industry. Why'd they build the Sears Tower? To show that Chicago was a new center of industry. Shit, even the Smith Tower in Seattle was billed as "the tallest building west of the Mississippi" until it wasn't, and that fucker is short. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/21/garden/21who.html?pagewant...