tarboat's photos with the keyword: apartments

Speculative apartment developments such as these at Xian are typical of modern China. A massive building boom has caused every city to be surrounded by tower blocks built on borrowed money. The problem is that there are far more apartments than buyers/renters and vast numbers stand empty whilst yet more are built nearby. I can only see this ending in some sort of financial collapse in the building industry in China. For now it provides employment for thousands, probably millions.

The old gasworks site has been transformed with the development of a large modern apartment complex. The only reminder of the previous use is this conversion of this gasholder into apartments. The framework has the name 'S Cutter & Sons Contractors London 1885' cast into the uprights. The developer took deposits on many of the apartments but has subsequently returned them and none has been occupied. There is now a planning application to convert the building to a 520 bed hotel.