Why does london lack skyscrapers

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They range in height from 20 storeys to more than 60, in central and suburban locations. Yet it has taken a privately funded organisation, New London Architecture , to discover this number. When Kit Malthouse, deputy mayor for business, was presented with this figure, he was not only ignorant of it, but denied it could be possible.

On these pages we show the cumulative effect of these planned towers on key locations along the Thames, where several of the proposals are concentrated. The images are of those that are known: many more can be expected in the coming months and years.

It is the first time that the future skyline has been shown to this extent, even though the technology is there to do so. Today we also publish a statement signed by scores of leading figures in culture, politics and business, and societies representing citizens.

They include architects who have won the profession's highest awards, contemporary artists, property developers, MPs, authors and the heads of colleges and museums. These are not Luddites or fogeys, they are not enemies of business or of the new, but they share simple shock at the thoughtlessness with which change on this scale is happening.

Here's another good idea: buildings in cities should not be designed in isolation, but in relation to the places in which they are set, whether these are views to and from world heritage sites, or the fabric of adjoining streets. Together with its present and future neighbours, new development should make accessible public spaces that are a pleasure to inhabit — the effects of tall buildings are as important at ground level as they are in the sky.

And the larger and more prominently placed a building is, the greater the care that should be taken over its design. Nobody could go to the places already being shaped by towers — Elephant and Castle, Vauxhall or Stratford High Street, a discus-throw from the Olympic Park — and say that these are great places to linger, or that the tall buildings now rising there enhance the experience.

Images of these places in the future, when further skyscrapers will jostle for attention, suggest more of the same. New urban zones are being created with no overall idea of how the parts contribute to the whole, of the places that are being made at their base. Rather, new London tower design tends to go out of its way to be as assertive and architecturally antisocial as possible.

Strata SE1 in Elephant and Castle, with its slashed rooftop, randomised aluminium cladding patterns and bulbous form, seems to be setting out to be as hostile as possible to any future neighbour. In Stratford the fashion is for arbitrary clashing colours — another idea that kills the prospect of making coherent public places. Nor, when you get close to a building such as St George's Tower in Vauxhall, would you say that you are in the presence of quality.

Take a look at how London compares to other major cities:. Currently, London only has 33 Skyscrapers. But why is London holding back? There must be a plausible reason why London does not have as many Skyscrapers as other major cities. The design and construction of Skyscrapers are essential to meet the building regulations.

Safety is imperative and the buildings must be able to resist wind, support the weight and be stable enough to withstand earthquakes. As they are habitable, the design needs to ensure people are protected from fire and the building is easy to access. Structural design is so important as any failure in this type of building can cause major repercussions.

How useful! With UK having a rich history, there are also strict rules in place to protect historical sites. This will always be put ahead of building a modern-day Skyscraper.

Building standards were first introduced in in the UK and later brought about the Building Act , bringing in further changes and guidelines. An appeal was launched by those behind the tower but it has been dismissed by the planning inspectorate. However the mayor added he was "disappointed the case went to appeal in the first place, incurring unnecessary costs to the taxpayer".

The skyscraper had been proposed to be built on Bury Street, beside the Gherkin tower. Mr Khan previously cited a number of concerns raised in a London Review Panel report in , which said it would harm the skyline and had few public benefits.

A spokesman for the mayor's office said: "Sadiq has long argued that the proposed tower would be little more than a concrete lift shaft with a viewing gallery at the top, offering very little in terms of benefits for Londoners, with no new office space or housing.