ABSTRACT
A look at Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Shanghai, Beijing, Singapore, Dubai, London, New York… Developed and developing cities the world over are in the process of urbanization. Without doubt the prevailing skyline of these cities demonstrates an ever increasing prevalence of tall buildings forming a new urban model. So what is urbanization and urbanism? Is there a necessary association between modern urbanism and tall buildings, or in other words, are tall buildings a good indicator as to the level of a city’s urbanization? With the ever expanding population growth and demand for better lifestyles are tall buildings the answer, are they a sustainable model to densify the city rather than spread? In this paper, I am going to examine the typology of new tall buildings and how they are inter-connected with their urban context; high-rise buildings as a sustainable model for urban growth; the integration of high-rise and the mixed-use solution—not looking at towers in isolation; the Joint Development Model as the way forward; the importance of integrating public transport; and outlining technical considerations when designing tall buildings. The paper will examine the relationship between towers and urbanism with specific reference to a series of tower projects from TFP Farrells (TFP).
Keywords: Connectivity, Icon, Mixed-use, Placemaking, Signifiers, Skyscraper, Sustainable model, Urbanism.
