Archive for October, 2009

Tokyo’s plans to build worlds largest tower

There is something about many cities around the world, that continually try to outdo each other by building the world’s tallest building or tower.

The topic also has some controversy as the definition as to what is exactly the tallest structure is not always clear. Some buildings just add a bigger antennae to the top of their structure to claim the title.

Wikipedia even has an entry on the world’s tallest buildings.

Tokyo is now trying to enter the competition with the construction of the Tokyo Sky Tree.

When completed, the tower will boast a height of 610 meters, or 2,001 feet. It would rank along with the Guangzhou TV & Sightseeing Tower as the third highest man made structure in the world. The Burj Dubai in the United Arab Emirates is currently the highest man made structure and beats all other buildings and towers in all categories.

The Tokyo Sky Tree will be used to broadcast digital television over Tokyo and is located 1km east of Asakusa.

Tokyo still has plans to bid for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups

Despite losing its bid to host the 2016 Olympic Games, Tokyo is still planning to bid for the 2018 and 2022 World Cup finals.

FIFA requires the host city to have a stadium that seats at least 80,000 people for the opening and final games. The stadium that was used in the 2002 World Cup final in Yokohama only holds 70,000, making it necessary for Tokyo to build another stadium.

The 2010 World Cup will be held in South Africa while Brazil will host the 2014 World Cup.

Tokyo loses to Rio in 2016 Olympic games bid

Not too surprisingly, Tokyo lost its bid for the 2016 Olympic games, with Rio de Janeiro defeating its other contenders Chicago and Madrid. It will be the first time that South America has hosted the Olympic games.

“Tokyo’s bid lacked passion, it didn’t capture the voters’ hearts,” said Munehiko Harada, sports sciences professor at Waseda University.

Not even Barack Obama could save Chicago’s bid when they were eliminated in the first round of voting.

I think the Japanese government are kind of fed up with wasteful government spending. Most of the stadiums that were built when Japan held the World Cup go unused and were a huge expenditure for tax payers. Since China held the 2008 Olympics, I also think it will be some time before the games are held again in Asia.