Tall and skinny buildings are creatures created by zoning. We can build wider and taller, but in the US most cities have zoned higher square footage buildings away with setbacks & allowances based on height and depth, forcing developers to build skinny or shrink the width of the building as it rises.
I’m talking China, not the USA. A big slab of a tall building is something that was done in the 60s but is hardly done anymore. Tall and skinny works much better in balancing residential space with a couple of elevators and a staircase.
