London needs more tall buildings to remain a competitive world city, according to a new report by the London School of Economics.
The report, Tall Buildings: Vision of the Future or Victims of the Past, published today, states that planning policies in the capital need to be “radically rethought” to make sure that more tall buildings are accepted.
Taking its lead from the Mayor’s London Plan, which was unveiled on Friday, the report, published for Development Securities, says that London’s increasing population will require “five to seven times the amount of extra office space currently provided at Canary Wharf over the next 25 years”.
The report states: “Higher density development is needed and tall buildings offer one solution to achieving this. In the office market, alternatives, such as large hanger-style buildings, are a far worse option.”
It calls for “a new generation of tall buildings” located in inner London near major transport hubs, which would help to unburden the chronically overloaded Tube and commuter networks.
It adds: “London has long suffered from a negative and erratic approach to planning, which has resulted in the capitals messy skyline. Tall buildings have suffered from the shadow cast over their reputation by the poorly designed tower blocks of the 1960s.”
The report argues that London should learn from the approach taken to tall buildings in New York, Paris, Frankfurt and Berlin, which all have a clear pro-active policy defining where tall buildings can be sited.
London is alone among the cities studied in having a purely reactive policy, simply spelling out where tall buildings cannot be situated.
Mayor Ken Livingstone’s London Plan made the first steps towards this. The Plan seeks to eradicate local authorities’ blanket bans against tall buildings and will require then to draw up planning briefs for areas where tall buildings will be suitable.
Richard Burdett of the London School of Economics said: “London has suffered from a lack of vision and coherence in its policy towards tall buildings in the past and that needs to change. I believe that tall buildings could play a much greater role in London’s future if properly designed and located near major transport hubs.”
EGi News 24/06/02
