When does stacking become vertical sprawl?

Abstract

More cities are expanding and aspiring to expand vertically. Many are advocating densification/intensification as a sustainable alternative to the urban sprawl of the west. Is densification the cure-all snake oil to problems associated with endless sprawl and leap-frog suburbia? This paper uses Hong Kong - one of the most dense cities in the world - to discuss whether the vertical city is a sustainable solution to human settlements. Like any other concept and theory, the implementation requires a much deeper and comprehensive understanding of the process of actualisation. Without this process, instead of a leap-frog suburb, a skyscraping suburb will be created, instead of the automobile, people will be highly dependent on elevators and escalators and most importantly, this may have already started to occur in cities around the world. This paper discusses the difference between stacking and vertical sprawl and examines the notion of the vertical sprawl through examples of the vertical cul-de-sacs and vertical gated communities already existing in Hong Kong and calls for more rigour in approaching densification.