> Taller constructions are concrete + steel.

There have been some advancements in wood for taller structures in recent years. Basically they have come up with wood that is as strong as concrete.

Main problem is fire/pests/rot/etc so you can't build crazy big but there are now 7 or 8 story tall apartment buildings made out of wood mainly in Helsinki for example.

Making apartment buildings out of wood is also much more environment friendly then concrete (somewhere around 50% less total co2)

Structural wood can be more fireproof than steel.

I saw this in an excellent exhibit at the National Building Museum in DC a couple of years back. Will try to track down a reference.

Some discussion (and dead links) near the bottom of this thread - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16331375

Fennoscandinavians are very good with their wood. (Pun not intended.) When other nations try to imitate their know-how, the result is usually subpar.

In Israel almost all construction, even single family homes (not that there are many of them), has concrete/steel beams and floors as the load baring infrastructure, and light Ytong bricks serving mainly for insulation. But it's super common to remove brick walls, interior or exterior, to make changes to home layouts, and as long as you don't touch the beams it's safe.