Begun in 2008, construction of the skyscraper is expected to be completed late this year, with opening to the public in 2015. The Shanghai Tower is the second tallest building in the world ; second only to the Burj Khalifa in Dubai (at 829.8 m). China is no stranger to large-scale engineering feats, owning many of the world's 20 tallest buildings. This time, however, the focus was on design and sustainability. The great challenge of today's world is sustainability, and so it was also a challenge for the civil engineers and designers of this project. Many of the key points the design team wanted to achieve included electricity generation, reduction of wind loads, more efficient use of building materials as well as economic sustainability of maintenance and operation. It also had to be a treat for the eyes! As is the case with most large-scale engineering projects, the engineering team varies across the plethora of engineering disciplines. The team behind the Shanghai Tower included engineers from all walks of life; from civil to electrical modeling specialists, and even mechanical to theoretical modeling. However, it is not right to attribute the role of an integral part of the project to a particular engineering discipline; without a civil engineer the building perhaps would have been underdeveloped, but at the same time, without an electrical engineer, the integrated wind turbine would have been disappointing. Therefore, the entire engineering team should be recognized for the work done in the Shanghai Tower, rather than singling out a particular engineering discipline. For the purposes of this journal, however, I will focus on the civil engineer's perspective. Sustainability is undoubtedly the greatest goal of our time. With global warming... in the center of the paper... collecting rainwater for example. The Shanghai Tower will be seen as a monument to the possibilities of sustainable engineering and will serve as a beacon for future sustainable engineering projects. However, it's not just the success she should be remembered for. The construction of the tower also exposed flaws related to the environmental and social impacts of overdevelopment. Rapidly rising real estate costs and constant sinking of Shanghai's soil pose real threats to both the environment and economic factors. All engineering projects will leave a mark on the industry in one way or another, usually through learning from previous mistakes or improving current methods. or techniques. Regardless, the Shanghai Tower will undoubtedly help raise attention on sustainable engineering, the use of BIM and the implications of overdevelopment.