Tall buildings are a growing nuisance

Shanghai's Taikang Road, a community of small alleys dotted with cafs, teahouses, galleries and boutique stores on either side, is the perfect place to break away from the city's concrete jungle.

But those who love to bask here in the afternoon sunlight need to hurry up, for, in about a year or so, the Taikang Road community will find themselves sitting in the shadow of towering office buildings across the street, part of a gigantic business center and shopping mall complex now under way.

The superstructures will look like a nuisance not only to the folks who visit Taikang Road but also to the residents of nearby Dapuqiao area, already home to a dense forest of skyscrapers.