The water-filled foundations of what was supposed to be the world’s tallest building are now being used as fish farm, two years after the project broke ground.
Construction of the 838-metre tall "Sky City" in Changsha, China began in July 2013, and was supposed to be complete within just a few months, thanks to the revolutionary prefabricated steel construction techniques of billionaire Zhang Yue’s company, Broad Group.
Artist’s impression of the stalled, 838-m tower, Sky City (Broad Sustainable Buildings/Wikimedia Commons)
But work stalled soon after amid reports of failures to obtain the required state approvals.
]Now, residents in the area have begun to raise fish in the 2.6-hectare water-filled foundations, according to Chinese newspaper, Xiaoxiang Chen Bao, reported by the South China Morning Post.
One villager started to raise fish in March and has invested around $3,200 (20,000 yuan) in his business.Â
"I raise fish on the construction site. It is not in secret, neither have I ever been stopped," he was quoted as saying. Locals had previously begun to use the site to grow watermelons.
The fish and melons may have to go, however.
Last month Zhang Yue insisted that Sky City would still go ahead.
"I have my reputation to think of – we’ll build it," the Chinese air-conditioning magnate told BBC News. "And in a couple of years we’re going to be booming."
In February he predicted that all necessary permissions for the gargantuan residential tower (pictured) would be obtained within three or four months, and that construction would start in late 2015 or early 2016.
