KONE Stories

There is a paradox to high-performing cities: the more attractive cities become, the more challenges they have, writes Christopher Choa, who leads AECOM’s Cities Consulting practice for projects worldwide.

The increasing amount of data collected by sensors embedded in elevators, buildings, cars and even appliances in our homes is expected to change the way we live in rapidly urbanizing cities. To make sense of this sea of data, KONE partners with IBM.

Every day, more than 200,000 people migrate to cities forcing urban centers, globally, to go vertical. But as cities are building up, are they getting smarter as well?

In the last part of our mini-series on urban renewal, we go to the commercial capital of China. Shanghai is home to 23 million people, making it the third most populous city in the world. Let’s find out what’s happening to old buildings in the city.

Our mission at KONE is to improve the flow of urban life. To capture the essence of urbanization, we bring you stories of people from 17 cities. Nikki Ramphal has lived in Johannesburg for 5 years now, but continues to be enchanted by the city’s multicultural facets.

Standing at over a kilometer high once completed, in 2018, the Jeddah Tower will be the glittering centerpiece of Jeddah’s Kingdom City development. Find out what’s KONE role in the making of this architectural history.

What does Service Technician, Steven Culen’s day at the Madison Square Garden look like? Find out in the last part of ’Keeping megacities on the move’ series.

Building sustainable cities is no child’s play. As megacities devise strategies to make their habitats more livable, we find out if there’s a secret recipe to success.

Chicago is home to four of the ten tallest buildings in the United States. With no regulatory limits to high-rise construction, the skyline keeps ambitiously inching skyward. But does that mean it is losing its heritage?

When Balasubramaniyan Vijayakumar was pulled over by traffic cops in the Indian city of Madurai, he was puzzled. He had attracted the police's attention by doing something few motorcyclists in Tamil Nadu state do – wear a helmet.

Whatever the future of high-rise technology might hold, KONE has the facilities to test them. The Kunshan Test Tower is purpose-built for a single mission: testing elevators to make them better, smarter and faster.

When it comes to its iconic skyline, Paris is proudly conservative. The only true high-rise in the historic center is the 59-story Montparnasse Tower – the most despised building in France.