WATCH: The Towers Debate: Does London need more tall buildings?

London’s evolving skyline. Source: raph.ae// flickr

Also read: Future Cape Town statement on the Cape Town Tall Buildings Policy

There are now proposals for over 230 new tall buildings to be built in London over the next decade, 80 per cent of which are residential. As London’s population continues to expand, is this high-rise vision of London’s future the right one for our city and its people?

Below are some of the views from the tall buildings debate taking place in the media:

The rash of tall buildings popping up over the capital, including in Outer London, must stop. They are not sustainable, have unacceptable impact on local character and views – London Assembly Labour member Navin Shah
You don’t have to go super-high to get the housing we need. High-density yet mid-rise developments like Kings Cross provide mixed-income communities without the negative consequences on the environment, public realm, and heritage – Max Salsbury
Tall buildings are to be welcomed – Paul Finch, Architects Journal
The London of the 2040s will be high, certainly – yet it will also be wide: a great sweep of mega-structures spreading from Canary Wharf in the east to Wandsworth Bridge in the west. – Will Self, The Guardian

Kicking off the London Festival of Architecture 2014 programme, Centre for London, the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and New London Architecture (NLA) hosted a public discussion to debate the motion ‘London needs many more tall buildings’. Watch the debate below: