Thoughts on Urban Verticalization. Going Up and Building High for the Future City

Abstract

Urban verticalization has shaped most cities around the world in the 20th century, playing a big part in the conception, creation and expansion of the Metropolis and the new cityscape that continuously aims for the sky. The vertical city as a concept has been provoking the creativity of architects and planners for over a century, mainly as the solution to the urban challenges that emerged after the industrial revolution, a time when the city was being rapidly transformed, and a new socioeconomic model appeared together with the new era. The intense vertical growth of our cities in the 20th century has formed the way our cities look and function, ultimately it has shaped what we consider as the modern city and urbanity, as well as the way we imagine the city of the future. Aesthetics aside, vertical building agglomeration has been a widespread solution to the growing demand for various different spaces in many cities of various scales all around the world. The evolution of the high-rise has had a huge impact on the image and experience of the city, shaping both the cities’ skylines, but also ground level neighborhoods and public spaces, impacting how people move and interact within the urban setting.