China to cut building heights for UNESCO bid
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The top floors of several high-rise buildings in the Chinese city of Hangzhou will be removed to help the city’s bid for UNESCO world heritage status, the BBC has reported.
The buildings affected are reported to include the Shangri-La and Huabei hotels, as well as a TV tower and office buildings around the city’s beautiful West Lake area. The shortening project will cost around CNY40 million (US$5.8 million), the report said.
According to the BBC report however, Shangri-La said it was unaware of any such plans.
“We haven’t received any order or any notice about it. But we’re also very concerned and will pay close attention to this,” a spokesperson for the Shangri-La told the Associated Press news agency.
Wang Shuifa, who is heading the project, had earlier told a news conference that officials wanted to lower the hotel’s seven-storey east wing, which houses the hotel’s Presidential Suite.
“We have hired foreign firms to draft detailed plans of how to reduce the height of the Shangri-La, whose owners will be compensated,” Wang was quoted by the China Daily newspaper as saying. He was reported to add that the main tower of the Huabei hotel would also be shortened.
Hangzhou, the capital of China in the 12th and 13th centuries, and is considered to be one of the country’s most beautiful cities, and draws large numbers of tourists each year. The Hangzhou government said in July that all buildings over 24 metres in the West Lake area would have to be shortened to clear the skyline, Xinhua reported.
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