Publications Repository - Gdańsk University of Technology

“The struggle for light” is how the Swiss architect Le Corbusier described the history of architecture in 1935. Today, with the skies crowded out by buildings in modern cities, those words should ring in the ears of policymakers and planners. Skyscraper construction is booming. China is the leader, last year completing 88 of the 143 buildings around the world that are taller than 200 metres (see ‘Vertical growth’). As the nation’s urban populations swell, by 2025 it will need to build 10 cities the size of New York, or 5 million buildings, to house people migrating from the countryside. Most of the buildings will be tightly packed towers of flats. These ‘vertical cities’ will look a lot like Hong Kong, one of the world’s densest urban areas, which has 26,000 people packed into each square kilometre.Beyond Asia, even historic European cities such as Frankfurt, Amsterdam and London are now embracing skyscrapers. London’s skyline is set to be transformed by 510 tall structures over the next decade. Middle Eastern cities such as Dubai and Doha are competing to erect ever more showy palaces in the air. But dense, vertical development comes at a huge price. Placing tall buildings close together slashes levels of natural light in and around them. In Asia and Australia, solar ultraviolet radiation can be reduced by up to 90% in shaded ‘urban canyons’. Evidence is emerging of the widespread health effects of chronic low exposure to natural light, from vitamin D deficiency to short-sightedness. And dense, dark cities will be energy-hungry and unsustainable.

Authors

• dr inż. arch. Karolina Zielińska-Dąbkowska link open in new tab ,
• Kyra Xavia