The Shanghai Tower - crowning over a sea of skyscrapers in the cosmopolitan city of Shanghai, China, is the world's second-tallest - just next to the super-tall Burj Khalifa in Dubai, UAE. But it tops the rankings as long as elevator speed is concerned.
Shanghai's tallest skyscraper has the world's fastest elevator, as it can transport people to different floors at a speed of 20.5 meters/second. With the building standing at a staggering 32 meters, passengers can reach the top floor from the ground floor (and vice-versa) in just a little over 30 seconds.
Given the Shanghai Tower's massive size, an elevator of that kind is truly necessary. Japanese tech conglomerate Mitsubishi built the high-speed elevator in July 2016. Visitors can truly waste no time reaching the tower's top floor, from where they can have spectacular views of the Bund and the rest of Shanghai's sights.
Other super-tall skyscrapers have come to rival the Shanghai Tower in terms of elevator speed. In China's southern city of Guangzhou, the Guangzhou CTF Finance Center comes closest to Shanghai's tallest, as its elevator can transport people at a speed of 20 meters/second. That enables people to reach the top from the bottom in just 45 seconds.
Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest tower, has an elevator that can run at 10 meters/second in full speed. It's not as fast as that of the Shanghai Tower, but it gets the job done for a skyscraper its size and purpose, which is normally a popular destination for tourists in Dubai.
Elevators in super-tall skyscrapers have to be built with both safety and design in mind. By far, modern engineers have really handled matters properly when it comes to building such kinds of elevators. It won't be far from impossible for future skyscrapers to have elevators faster than that of the Shanghai Tower.
