Colin buchanan

Tower 42, 1 Canada Water, Swiss Re, Shard of Glass: commercial tall buildings are once again on the agenda with new iconic developments being built or proposed, not just in London but throughout the United Kingdom.

Much of the current debate on tall buildings has centred on their aesthetic appeal or impacts, issues which are often highly subjective and emotive.
In contrast little attention has been paid to the economic impact of tall buildings. Why are so many cities eager to facilitate them, developers wanting to build them and occupiers renting space in them? In short are tall buildings good or bad for UK plc? In an attempt to answer some of these questions the British Property Federation, British Land, and Land Securities commissioned Colin Buchanan to undertake a research study into the economic and sustainability impacts of tall buildings.

This research consisted of a review of previous studies into the economic and sustainable impacts of tall buildings, discussions with developers and occupiers and economic modelling of the impact of increasing employment density on output.

Colin Buchanan found that tall buildings can have significant economic and sustainability impacts. Economic impacts are driven by the unique opportunity for increased density and the resulting increases in productivity in key urban areas, when transport implications are appropriately considered. Sustainability impacts are driven by efficient use of land (reduced land take) and by the potential for substantial reduction in car use, as public transport is preferable in dense built environments compared to sprawling ones.

Click here for the report

Click here for a recent Planning journal article