It is interesting to know that so many countries have so many of its citizens living below the poverty line yet instead of investing in the well being of these people they decide to invest in skyscrapers. According to this article from CNN, there as a skyscraper being built in Guangzhou, China that will be having one of the fastest elevators in the world. The elevators speed will be going 45 mph which is super fast compared to a regulator elevator and can be compared to going as fast as a regular car on the street. As the the writer states "[The elevator is] like riding a speeding commuter train--into the sky." The skyscraper will be one of the tallest in the world measuring at 1, 739 ft (530 meters).
What I found very interesting about this article is a comment by one its readers. He states that "Dubai is basically built on slave labor. There have been plenty of documentaries and reports on it. It's appalling." Although this skyscraper will not be opening until 2016, construction has begun and who are the people that will be working with a horrible wage and building this famous skyscraper with the worlds fastest elevator? The poor lower class. Slave labor has allowed various governments throughout the world to invest little in the wages of deserving workers and invested more money in constructions around various cities in various countries. When reading this reader's comment, it reminded me of GPP 115 and how slave labor was a continuous cycle that many could not get out of. Not only did they have horrible wages but they worked many hours during the day and did not have health-care coverage incase they got into an accident.
Overall this article was interesting because it is exciting that there is going to be an elevator that will travel 45mph in one of the worlds tallest skyscrapers but sadly this will happen with the blood, sweat and tears of the poor working class who are and will continue to do so in order to provide for their families.
You hear about some of the world's coolest innovations and it's so easy to forget about the cost of those innovations and urban developments. Thanks for sharing this article! It brings back to light what we've learned about the first class city being built by the poor that don't even have a right to be truly exist in it. This article makes you question why we need a "speeding commuter train into the sky" at all, or more importantly, whether it's worth the exploitation of the world's poorest.
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