Liverpool with a skyline that resembles Shanghai or Dubai, or perhaps Singapore, where I lived for a time? Skycrapers and traditional buildings sat side by side, the scale and modernist grandeur of the former throwing into sharp relief the architectural heritage of the past? Frankly, I like the sound of that, and it’s a vision of the future that has been echoed recently in The Sunday Times, on the BBC and elsewhere, amid forecasts that more than 100 skyscrapers are set to be built across Liverpool, and in Manchester and Leeds. Liverpool’s development plans include a massive £5.5 billion skyscraper scheme with buildings up to 50 storeys, as developers invest heavily on the back of a strengthening housing demand in the city centre after years of exodus. For detailed news and images of planned skyscraper developments in Liverpool and elsewhere, visit skyscrapernews.com to see how Liverpool may be starting to catch up with some of the world’s other inspiring cityscapes. With all this development, though, the crucial acid test must be its impact on improving the working, personal and creative lives of the people of Merseyside. For interesting discussions on this subject, visit the Nerve website of the arts, cultural and social issues magazine of the same name. (Photo: Fourth Grace Foster. Copyright Holder – Foster and Partners)