The sustainability of tall building developments: A conceptual framework

Abstract

As cities cope with rapid population growth-adding 2.5 billion dwellers by 2050-and grapple with expansive sprawl, politicians, planners, and architects have become increasingly interested in the vertical city paradigm. This paper reviews and examines shortfalls of tall buildings found in the literature to inform future developments. The paper gathers a vast amount of fragmented criticism and concerns, and organizes them around the three pillars of sustainability: social, economic, and environmental. Mapping out the "unsustainable" aspects forms the foundation for addressing them in future research and tall building developments.