The Gold Tower 42 will be located about 3 blocks from my former apartment in Phnom Penh. It is really good I will not be living there when construction is complete--my apartment would be directly in these skyscrapers shadows every afternoon.
I wish I had taken some photographs of the silly banner that rings the property.
Pizza World and BB World had to be demolished so that these towers could be built (gasp!). Their next-door neighbor (and my former workplace), the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Dermatology, and STIs (NCHADS), will soon be obliterated to make room for the "twin towers." But don't worry, NCHADS will be relocated across the Tonle Sap river.
The Gold Tower 42 will rise as a symbol of South Korea's wealth and investment in Cambodia rather than Cambodia's own prosperity. Though it is a symbol of capitalist urban modernity, it may not be what Cambodia really needs right now. It's debatable whether such massive construction projects will bring greater investment in Cambodia, or whether these investments will be used to diversify the economy.
Contrary to the position of one Phnom Penh resident in the article below, real estate prices are likely to increase dramatically across the board with the creation of more and more luxury towers that exude wealth from their very faux-gold windows. Only the very richest in Cambodia could afford to live in such places. The Gold Tower 42 and other future skyscrapers will likely only prop up the uber-riche and create a very visible manifestation of the enormous divide between rich and poor in the city.
Isn't development great?
The twin towers are to be 42 storeys high - almost three times higher than the current tallest building.
It is the first of three skyscrapers planned in the capital, where the skyline has been kept low - in part to avoid overshadowing royal palaces.
But the government has encouraged the new buildings as symbols of Cambodia's development after decades of conflict.
Although Gold Tower 42 is some way from completion, the launch of its show apartment and sales office attracted government ministers and overseas ambassadors.
The BBC's Guy De Launey, in Phnom Penh, said the launch gave a taste of the shape of things to come.
He said the solid, imposing, gold-faced structure would stand out from its neighbours on Norodom Boulevard - an area of yellow-washed, wooden-shuttered French colonial-era buildings.
But Phnom Penh is in the middle of a real-estate boom - and some residents hope that building up will bring the price of homes down.
"It's more affordable for people wanting to stay in town, and I think it's good. It's secure and they have all the facilities," one resident said.
But other locals worry about the effect tall buildings will have on the city's character
"The original Phnom Penh city [was developed to] be horizontal, not vertical," one resident said.
South Korean companies are building Gold Tower 42 and another even taller skyscraper near the Mekong River.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/asia-pacific/7207030.stm
Here are two commercial segments for the Gold Tower 42:
1 comment:
The second commercial is sorta creepy, like the tower is stripping residents of their wealth - not exactly a comforting image to people concerned about the rich/poor divide.
(Still a devoted fan of your blog. P.S. Where in the world are you? SF?)
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