World's tallest abandoned skyscraper the Walking Stick to FINALLY be finished decade after £8bn project was left empty
Work on Goldin Finance 117, nicknamed The Walking Stick due to its architectural shape, ground to an abrupt halt in 2015 amid financial woes.
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Goldin Finance 117, which has stood unfinished for a decade, on September 8, 2015
Credit: Getty
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An aerial view of the Goldin Finance 117 in 2022
Credit: Getty
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The "ghost-scraper" has loomed large over the northern city of Tianjin ever since, with its future remaining up in the air.
Planned as a symbol of the country's surging wealth when it broke ground in 2008, it would have been China's tallest tower at the time.
Already topped out when construction hit a pause, it now holds the unenviable record of world's tallest abandoned skyscraper.
At a whopping 1,959 feet, it is nearly twice as tall as The Shard.
Work on the £8billion project hit a pause following the 2015 Chinese stock market crash.
But the tower is now set to resume construction after 10 long years, according to Chinese state media.
However, it won't get to claim the title as China's tallest building.
Two bigger skyscrapers, the Shanghai Tower and Shenzhen's Ping An Finance Centre, have both been completed since.
Nevertheless, The Walking Stick's vast heights will still make it the world's sixth tallest building.
It would drop to eighth if the world record-targeting Jeddah Tower in Saudi Arabia and Dubai's Burj Azizi are completed in the coming years.
Goldin Finance 117 is now projected to be finished by 2027, CNN has reported.
The tower was designed with "mega columns" to shield it against earthquakes and strong winds.
Plans also included a diamond-shaped atrium at the top with a swimming pool and observation deck.
It was also expected to contain offices and a five-star hotel on its higher floors.
But it is not known whether plans for the skyscraper's use will remain unchanged.
Goldin Finance 117 is far from the only abandoned high rise to sit on China's skylines.
China issued guidance in 2020 banning new skyscrapers over 500 metres (1,640 feet).
In central China, the Wuhan Greenland Centre had its planned height slashed from a planned 636 metres (2,087 ft) in 2018 while it was mid-construction.
Had it been completed as originally designed, it would have been the world's second tallest tower at the time, only after Dubai's Burj Khalifa.
In the end, it reached 476 metres (1,562 feet).
Work is also set to resume on the Chengdu Greenland Tower in the country's south west, according to local state-owned media.
Construction on this planned 468 metre tall skyscraper has been paused since 2023.
The skylines of many of China's biggest cities are dominated by vast towers like this.
Five of the 10 tallest completed buildings in the world are in China.
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