WORK on the world's highest building seems to have been brought to a halt once again. After more piles were driven into the ground, the construction site has fallen into silence.

People may still remember the grand hype surrounding the project in mid-February, when work on the world's highest tower - the Shanghai World Financial Centre - was said to have restarted, with construction due to be finished in 2007.

On February 13, The developer, Japanese-based Forest Overseas Co Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Mori Building Co Ltd, held a ceremony at the construction site. Shanghai's Party Secretary Chen Liangyu and other government officials attended the project relaunching ceremony.

The building was planned as a super high-rise and multi-use building slated to be the world's most celebrated symbol, reaching to 492 metres with 101 stories above ground. It was even to be 72 metres taller than Jinmao Tower, only a stone's throw away from it.

"We want to build the world's number one building, to be number one is much better than number two," said Minoru Mori, president and CEO of Mori Building Co Ltd, at the press conference held in February.

Local media, including the 21st Economic Herald, questioned whether the number one tower would really be completed in Shanghai.

This was not the first time work on the tower has been reported halted. The project was first approved by the city government in 1997, with a planned height of 452 metres. But due to the Asia Financial Crisis, construction stopped just after its commencement.

Over five years later, the investor declared the scheme was being restarted. The proposed height was increased to 492 metres in the revised plan, with the investor putting a further 25 billion yen (US$205.88 million) into the project, bringing total investment of 100 billion yen (US$823.52 million).

"I don't think some recent reports about the project being halted are correct. Our project hasn't halted at all, the building will be finished on schedule," said Takayuki Suzuki, manager of the Financial & Accounting Department of Shanghai World Financial Centre Co Ltd.

Suzuki denied that the company had any problem continuing to finance the project.

From February to June, the construction site added about 50 new piles to allow for the increase in proposed height. Construction facilities and access to the site would also be ready by the Spring Festival, he said.

If everything goes smoothly, the underground excavation would start after the Spring Festival, marking the beginning of the first-phase of construction of the major tower.

"We didn't waste time even during the Asian Financial Crisis, although the construction site may not be as busy as people had expected," he said, "The designing work is continually improving. This is all necessary preparation for the construction of the major tower."

"According to local regulations, if the construction project did not start in two years, the city government had the right to reclaim the site," said an official with the Pudong Planning Bureau, who asked to remain anonymous.

"But from the legal point of view, because the developer drove in some piles, the project could be considered underway," he added. "In addition, such a large investment project would always be given some special leeway. It will be decided by higher-level officials instead of by regular procedures."

He also said there was no sign yet that the project would be cancelled. "Anyway, the highest tower project relates to the city's overall profile."

"During the past few years, the city government has strongly supported our project. This building, which will become a symbol of the city, will be beneficial to all parties," Suzuki said.

High expense

"If the tower is finished, constructing and managing the super high building will definitely be expensive," said Cai Zhenyu, chief architect of Shanghai Modern Architectural Design Group Ltd. "To build the highest tower in the world, to me, is aimed more at showing the developer's economic power rather than saving ground space. I can't say whether it is correct or not to build it."

"A super high tower which can accommodate 100,000 people is really a challenge to the management of the city's safety, services and traffic," said Zheng Shiling, director with the Institute of Architecture & Urban Space at Tongji University.

To ensure the building is earthquake proof and fireproof, the whole structure would have to be made of steel, which makes its prices several times higher than ordinary high buildings.

The cost of building the Jinmao reached almost 20,000 yuan (US$2,418) per square metre. Insiders in the field of architecture said buildings with heights over 300 metres actually showed no real benefit in terms of saving space or money.

The daily cost of running Malaysia's Petronas Twin Towers, in Kuala Lumpur, is US$196,000, while for the Jinmao Tower, the highest building in Shanghai today, the figure is 1 million yuan (US$121,000).

Halting the construction of such a skyscraper can be very difficult. Because of the huge up-front investment, no one is willing to abandon the project, preferring to invest yet more money to keep the plans alive.

"The company has a careful plan to deal with the operating costs, a slightly higher rental and good service will help," said Takahiko Raijo, manager of the Project Planing & Development Department.

But in the history of super high buildings around world, many have proven economically precarious. Super skyscrapers are known as "capital black-holes" by insiders.

Construction of the destroyed World Trade Centre in New York started in 1966 and finished in 1973, consuming US$1.5 billion. The world's highest building today, the MNI Twins in Kuala Lumpur, cost US$2.94 billion. Local critics have said the completion of the buildings marked the beginning of a financial crisis in Malaysia.

Among the 10 highest buildings existing today, six are located in Asia. The trend to ever higher towers has shifted from the United States, the birthplace of the skyscraper, to Asia.

"This is natural because skyscrapers are always closely associated with successful economies," Raijo added. "Now Asia is the centre of the fastest development in the world, so in Shanghai, as an emerging financial centre, a superhigh tower makes perfect sense."

Buildings higher than 24 metres can be called "high buildings". There are over 3,000 such high buildings now in the city. Those over 100 metres high are "super high towers". Shanghai hosts 186 such high-rises.

Because of the increased number of high buildings, the city is planning to place some restrictions on future construction. In the draft of the Amendment of the Shanghai Urban Planing Regulation, such control over high towers is highlighted.

But it won't be weeded out. Spokeswoman Jiao Yang said at a press conference on October 22 that the restriction would not mean all high-rise building projects faced cancellation. The administrative measures would be defined specifically according to different government levels.