Shaping the High-Rise Framework: Tall Buildings Policies and Zoning 2
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ctbuh.org/papers Title: Shaping the High-rise Framework: Tall Buildings Policies and Zoning Author: Jan Klerks, CTBUH Research & Communications Manager, Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat Subject: Urban Design Keywords: Code Compliance Zoning Publication Date: 2009 Original Publication: CTBUH Journal, 2009 Issue III Paper Type: 1. Book chapter/Part chapter 2. Journal paper 3. Conference proceeding 4. Unpublished conference paper 5. Magazine article 6. Unpublished © Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat / Jan Klerks Shaping the High-rise Framework: Tall Buildings Policies and Zoning "Learning from the Netherlands: Ask not what the city can do for the tall building; ask what the tall building can do for the city." Jan Klerks History has seen some legendary examples of high-rise zoning policy. Certainly the oldest one was drafted and implemented by the Lord himself, as he considered his children to have grown too Author close to him and, as a result of a policy of miscommunication, left a tower uncompleted. Roman Jan Klerks, CTBUH Research & Communications emperors Julius Caesar, Augustus and Nero all set maximum building heights for ancient Rome, for Manager safety reasons and to prevent overcrowding. The tower-minded citizens of the medieval trading S.R. Crown Hall city of San Gimignano in Tuscan Italy, were not allowed to build taller than the 165-foot-high tower 3360 S. State Street of the town hall. This limitation was worked around by some erecting twin towers instead. Legend Chicago, IL 60616 has it that UK’s Queen Victoria was so aggravated over the Queen Anne’s Mansion building, t: +1 312 567 3429 f: +1 312 567 3820 blocking her views of the Parliament from the Palace, that this triggered the 100-foot height limit e: [email protected] on all of London’s buildings. This limit lasted from 1894 to 1954. Jan Klerks Jan Klerks is the Research & Communications Manager Origins of high-rise zoning expect a natural tendency to build upwards. of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. In However, the tallest buildings are a mere 500 this position he is responsible for creating knowledge For centuries, towers were mere iconic and on tall buildings by initiating and conducting scientific power-boasting incidents in the urban feet (150m) tall. High-rise, and urban density in research, editing books about this topic and by writing its wake, has become a topic of discussion articles and reviews. Mr. Klerks graduated from the landscape. The invention of the elevator and Erasmus University of Rotterdam, in the Netherlands, the introduction of metal framing and new outside the main cities of Rotterdam, where he obtained master degrees in economics and Amsterdam and The Hague in the past ten sociology. For his final thesis Mr. Klerks did research on lighting systems in the late 19th century gave high-rise living in Rotterdam. Before moving to a utilitarian function to the tower. Spurred by years. Currently over 25 Dutch cities, some Chicago, Mr. Klerks was self employed and counting just over 50,000 inhabitants, now commissioned to act as Executive Director of the Dutch land prices, fast economic growth and ego Council on Tall Buildings, an active local sister boasting, the skylines of Chicago and New York have policies on high-rise zoning in place. In organization of the CTBUH. In this position, he was recent years, buildings of up to 300 feet tall responsible for organizing conferences, publishing City rapidly became symbols of the new world. newsletters, conducting study projects, supporting As unbridled construction lead to unwanted have been erected in these mid-size cities, high-rise related activities and maintaining the sometimes as a result of local ambition, but professional network in the Netherlands. side effects, both cities started to adopt tall building principles as a framework in which often times as a result of lacking a proper market forces were allowed to shape towers. framework or an agenda. In some cases, the ...America Tower The history of high-rise zoning in Chicago and erection of tall buildings triggered a tall New York City shows policies based on height, buildings policy. Especially the less setbacks, volume and floor area ratio (FAR). In experienced cities are searching for proper tall The 54-story result is building guidelines on how to cope with among the most ungainly the book Form Follows Finance (1995), Carol “ Willis illustrates that, in the course of time, aspiring market initiatives. forms on the skyline, like a principles of planning and economics have With space at a premium, the Netherlands has matron who swathes herself in shaped skyscrapers. As a result, they became a history of firmly organized zoning plans in thick layers of fabric in a vain quintessential for their time and place. Today, which size, height and function are precisely attempt to slim her burgeoning the world has become a complex information stipulated. To provide certainty, a zoning plan silhouette. The tower climaxes society and high-rise zoning has become a has a validity of ten years. Until recently, holistic way of thinking. It incorporates the developers could deviate from these plans with a spire as impressive as skills of urban planning, architecture, only if the local government was willing to an auto antenna. engineering and politics. formalize an anticipated change the next time ” a zoning plan is up for revision. This must be James S. Russell, Writer in New York, on Bank of based on a long-term plan, such as a vision on America Tower in New York. From ‘Bank of Dutch zoning policy the development of tall buildings. This America’s Earnest Eco-Tower Rises From New As the Netherlands is one of the most densely basically means that the zoning plans are York Slump’ Bloomberg News, July 28, 2009 populated countries in the world, one would being adjusted for the actual projects that 34 | Shaping the High-rise Framework CTBUH Journal | 2009 Issue III have already been built. In 2008, this reverse not only making the practice was changed for procedures aimed at city readable but also speeding up the permit approval process, creating a powerful although the underlying principles remained image with which both the same (see Figure 1). tenants and inhabitants can Comparative research identify. As such, the message and agenda, To create insights into the way cities shape which the height their high-rise zoning policies, in 2008 the embodies, becomes an Dutch Council on Tall Buildings commissioned essential issue. a research project on Dutch high-rise policy. Especially for Mixed with over 25 years of council companies dealing experience, the Rotterdam based architecture with intangible firm of Zandbelt&vandenBerg drew up a top products, such as ten list of guidelines. These are highlighted in Figure 1. Height zoning in the city center of Rotterdam. The yellow area indicate no height financial services, limit, the purple areas are transitional zones of heights in between 70 and 150 meter. the next paragraphs. They show that high-rise erecting a skyscraper is © City of Rotterdam policy in a Dutch, but also European or even a way of shaping a presence and an image. other forces at work than just rational western context, isn’t just about scarcity, The potential size of these markets is relative. density and height. It is also about agenda, principles. But then again, there is nothing to On average, five to ten percent of the be ashamed of by saying a skyscraper doesn’t ambition, sustainability and the impact of tall population of Dutch cities chose to live in the buildings on the urban habitat and have to be a necessity but also can be just city center because of the proximity to urban plain fun. environment. amenities and the metropolitan life style. More than any other part of the city, the city center At a practical level, anticipate the impact of Ten recommendations represents the city as a whole. It is a challenge high-rises on the surroundings. Mandatory for cities to shape this market, however assessment of the levels of shading and wind There are several reasonable arguments compact, to the best of their abilities. is quite common these days. The impact on debating the purpose of tall buildings, such as visual experience, levels of pollution and the need for space, high land prices or the Before drafting a high-rise policy, the most communication ray paths is not always desire to create urban density. However, these important question that needs to be answered assessed. For obvious reasons, a traffic gridlock arguments cannot always be backed up by a is, ”What is it that you want tall buildings to do must be prevented by studying the impact of proper interpretation of the facts. It is for your city?” The previous paragraphs have the development on the nearby infrastructure. important to understand that in a already noted that high-rises are not a In the wake of this, parking requirements often contemporary, western context, skyscrapers panacea for urban density. This argument is call for creative solutions. Underground are not necessarily an economical product of often brought forward in debates about the parking, if possible, can be expensive, while high land value. In some Dutch cities, ground bigger picture. On a practical level, this is often upper level parking can be an architectural lease of government-owned land, which could not the case. Especially outside the city center, eyesore. It must be noted that both public and be an entire city center, is based on building tall buildings need breathing room to private parties sometimes find themselves volume, so the market mechanism actually overcome the negative impacts of building hindered in their ambitions because national works the other way around.