High-Rise or HIgh Risk

 

...<High-rise or High Risk?>...

Most of the urban skyline in cities around the world is characterized by high-rise buildings. These tall structures have become a symbol of modern civilization and progress. The High-rise buildings came up to resolve the increasing pressure of housing in high population density urban areas. But in several cases these concrete jungles have sprouted mindlessly, with scant regard to the overall wellness of people who live in them.

                                           

       The history of high-rises may be traced back to the pyramids of Egypt (about 48 storey’s in height). In modern history, tall structures were not built until the late 1600s, apart from a few Roman apartment buildings of six or seven storey’s and Europe’s Gothic cathedrals. Tall buildings with iron skeletons began to be constructed in the 1860s. Thus, high-rises can be termed as a very recent phenomenon. Hence they are not natural’ habitats for human beings and so they may also be in some way harmful.

       People living in high-rise buildings live with many fears. The height of the buildings evokes fear of fall from a high window or terrace. The possibility of fire is also a high-risk accident which can trap people inside their home or office. Earthquakes are another scary possibility that makes the chances of escaping to safety much less for people in high-rises because during such disasters electricity, elevators and communication lines can break down completely and the chances of running down from the top floors to an open ground or street are very low.

       High –rise buildings are also a soft target for terrorist attacks. We have witnessed the horror of the twin towers of the World Trade Centre. The fact that thousands of people are living or working in high-rise means that people are more strangers than known neighbors sharing that space. It compounds the fear of crime and absence of social bonding and community support.

       Many high-rises have guarded gates and high-tech security so that strangers cannot enter. People who live on the upper floors of a high-rise, especially children and the elderly, are less likely to leave home. This separates people from the outdoors, the city and from other people. High-rises separate large numbers of people from the street and they end up in a city that is detached from street life. People living on upper floors have scarce contact with ground-level events. Also, the sheer number of people in one building may increase the fear of catching, communicable diseases spread by others, Air and touch borne flu and colds, for example, spread more easily when many people share hallway air, door handless and elevator buttons. 

       There have been many studies about how living in high-rises affects children. For families with small children, high-rise living is an unsuitable option. Parents find it difficult to allow small children to go down to the park and to supervise their ply. Consequently, children who live on higher floors go outside less often to play.

       High-rises are isolating and dehumanizing. In a large colony of high-rises, a pedestrian can hardly see people on the streets. There is only concrete, steel and glass all around. High-rise structures are not of human scale. People in high-rises are less likely to have chance encounters that occur in streets, public species and low—rise neighborhoods. Such encounters are crucial for the liveliness and social fabric of a city. They are also essential for developing community support and Individual social skills.

       Tall buildings offer increased profits for developers. However, the higher a rises. The more expensive is the construction. Tall buildings inflate the price of adjacent land, thus making the protection of older buildings and affordable housing less achievable. In this way, they increase inequality.

       Furthermore, high-rise buildings are built largely of steel and concrete and are less sustainable than low-rise and mid-rise buildings. High-rises use almost towed as much energy per square metere as mid-rise structures.

       Living in a high-rise creates a very myopic and narrow worldview. People in these buildings have a very finite, protected and non-diverse human experience. It can make people very protective about their space and intolerant Psychologist Daniel Cappon writes in the Canadian Journal of public Health that high-rises keep children and the elderly from getting exercise due to the extra effort it takes to get outside, and encourages them to stay at home and switch on the TV. And he believes that the level of alienation and isolation, which negatively impacts health and even shortens people’s lives, and these disadvantages increase with the height of the building. We must not go on blindly building these vertical coffins for the premature death of our civilization, he says.