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January 31, 2021 37 mins

In today's episode we are asking, are tall buildings sustainable? It is often argued that because of their density, tall buildings are essential for sustainable cities to support public transport, walking, cycling and thriving communities. However, once you start looking into it, it is far more complicated than that.

In this episode, tall buildings are analysed based on their environmental, social and economic sustainability with some surprising results.

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Sources:
https://nla.london/insights/londons-tall-buildings-survey-2020

Headspace: The Psychology of City Living

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322312012_The_Sustainability_of_Tall_Building_Developments_A_Conceptual_Framework

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2020/jul/11/skyscrapers-wasteful-damaging-outmoded-time-to-stop-tall-buildings

https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2017/jun/high-rise-buildings-much-more-energy-intensive-low-rise

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09613218.2018.1479927

https://www.worldgbc.org/news-media/WorldGBC-embodied-carbon-report-published

https://www.transparency.org.uk/sites/default/files/pdf/publications/TIUK_Faulty_Towers_August_24.pdf

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/may/25/london-empty-towers-very-british-corruption-tainted-wealth

https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/residents_experience_of_high-density_housing_in_london_lse_-_final_report_july_2018.pdf

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Consulting and training: https://greenurbanist.org/

Podcast website: https://greenurbanistpod.com/

The Green Urbanist podcast is hosted by Ross O'Ceallaigh.

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