GATEWAY COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE AND

DESIGN
SONIPAT 131001

DISSERTATION REPORT
November, 2017

LOW RISE V/S MEDIUM RISE V/S HIGH RISE IN

URBAN CONTEXT

SUBMITTED BY: GUIDED BY:

(Saasha Bamba) (GCAD/13/226) (Ar. Ravi kakar)

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 GATEWAY COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE AND
DESIGN

DECLARATION

I, ___________Saasha Bamba____________, Roll Number, _____Gcad/13/226________

hereby declare that the dissertation titled ____Low Rise Vs Medium Rise Vs High rise in
Urban Context______________________________ submitted by me, in partial fulfilment of
the requirement of the curriculum of Bachelor of Architecture as per the university norms, to
Gateway College of Architecture and Design, is a record of my original work with credits
given for information collected from any other source.

________ Saasha Bamba _________

(Name of the student)

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 GATEWAY COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE AND
DESIGN

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the dissertation titled __ Low Rise Vs Medium Rise Vs High rise in
Urban Context_____________________________, submitted in partial fulfilment of the
requirement of the curriculum of Bachelor of Architecture is the work of ______________
Saasha Bamba ____ Roll Number ___ Gcad/13/226_____, who carried out research work
under our supervision in Gateway College of Architecture and Design, Sonipat, Haryana.

We recommend that the dissertation report be placed before the examiners for their
consideration.

_____Ar. Ravi kakar_______ ____ __Ar.Ashish Srivastava____

(Name of the Guide in Sentence Case) (Name of the Coordinator in Sentence Case)
Signature of the Guide Signature of the Coordinator

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 Abstract

Over the centuries residential buildings have been evolved with different patterns according to the
need and requirement. now with the highly increase in the urban population, there is a greater need
of intensive use of land as the land is scarce but with the technology advancement vertical
construction is possible. With this, architecture has broken out of the box; new technology in
design and construction has at last begged to utterly transform the built environment causing high
rise which tends to touch the sky, they have gave birth to the social and psychological issues as
well as environmental issues. Not only the high rise itself but other surrounding buildings are also
facing the problems of daylight and wind pressure which is the main reason for the urban context.
Under these circumstances the residential buildings have become a very challenging issue for
providing the good living standards. So there should be a correct path to differentiate the low rise,
medium rise and high rise in order to demonstrate the correct building typology so that in future,
buildings can be designed in efficient urban development strategies and designers can easily
recognize the better form out of low rise, medium rise and high rise with their pros and cons.
The study aims at making architects aware of the impacts generated by these three typologies and
which should be selected for present and future demands which fulfill the requirement of better
livability.

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 Dedication

To My parents
I dedicate this page to my parents who have always encouraged me in the work and was the
inspiration to me in the process of research. I earnestly feel that without their support and
dedication, I would not be able to do my work easily. I really want to that my father Mr.
Rajinder Bamba and my mother Mrs. Shashi Bamba for their continuous support and love.

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 Acknowledgements

There are many people whom I want to thank for their efforts in helping me to reach at this

platform. I want to especially thank my dissertation guide Ar. Ravi Kakkar, who gave me the

golden opportunity to do this wonderful research paper and guided me towards my research. I

want to thank my teachers Ar. Bikramjit chakraborty and Ar. Ashish shrivastava in the journey

of process that made it possible by their guidance and support.

At last I want to thank my friends for showing inspiration and confidence in me.

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Tables of content

Figures
1. Scarcity of land………………………………………………………………………………10
2. Wind shadow diagrams……………………………………………………………………..17
3. Cities in numbers: how patterns of urban growth change the world- by journal- the
guardians………………………………………………………………………………………..18
4. Evolution of high rise………………………………………………………………………...20
5. Plaza tower, United States……………………………………………………………….....22
6. Pecs Magashaz, Hungary…………………………………………………………………....23
7. Grenfell tower………………………………………………………………………………..23
8. Grenfell tower: Typical plan showing service core………………………………………..24
9. Low rise buildings more sustainable in comparison to medium rise and high rise……...32
10. Reason for which people dislikes the vertical apartment living……………………. …..33
11. Reason for which people likes the vertical apartment living…………………….……....34
12. Increase in dwellings in central CoM, Melbourne, Australia……………………………34
13. 8 House/BIG – case study……………………………………………………………….….34
14. Tin Shui Wai – the ultimate in vertical sprawl…………………………………………...37
15. Vibrant city……………………………………………………………………………….....37
16. Evolution of housing………………………………………………………………………..40
17. MCD DDA Slum strategy………………………………………………………………….41
18. Burj Khalifa, Shangai tower, Abraj Al Bhait ……………………………………………42
19. House/BIG-social spaces and sustainable community…………………………………. .44

Table-1: Social analysis……………………………………………………………………25-28

Table-2: Environmental analysis…………………………………………………………28-30
Table-3: Psychological analysis…………………………………………………………...31-32

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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ……………………………………………………..(10-12)

1.1 The Premise

1.2 The Intent of the Dissertation - Aim and Objective of the Research
1.3 Definitions, Meaning, Abbreviations
1.4 The Central Claim
1.5 The Research Question(s)
1.6 The Scope and Limitations of the Research

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ……………………………………………(12-22)

2.1 Selection Criteria of the Literature

2.2 Brief review of each referred documents
2.3 Review of Documents/References
2.5 Collating the Literature Review learning’s

CHAPTER 3: Case Studies ……………………………….(22-25)

3.1 Data/ case Selection and its Justification

3.2 The Case Studies
3.3 Collating the learning’s from the case Studies

CHAPTER 4: ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION………………………………….(25-38)

5.1 Discussion & Arguments

5.2 The Final Comments

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS ………………………………………………………(38-44)

5.1 Recapitulation of Research Question
5.2 Research Inference and its Significance
5.3 Revisiting the Central Claim (in the light of Research inference)
5.4 The future Research possibilities

CHAPTER 6: APPLICATION OF RESEARCH FINDINGS………………………(44-45)

6.1 Tentative area of Thesis
6.2 Applicability of Research Findings in the project
6.3 Thesis Topic and its validity
6.4 The Location and Proponent of project

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APPENDIX :…………………………………………………………………..……….(Page)
BIBLIOGRAPHY …………………………………………………………………….(45)

PREFACE
This paper deals with the goal of making an understanding of the built environment in which
people are just surviving but not living, so to bring out those factors which are restricting livable
condition in the race of making iconic structures and to manage the horizontal expansion which
are making cities left over the scarcity of land for agricultural as well as the recreational purposes
which are the important aspects for raising the life. This was the main motivation behind the paper
that even in 21st century people are not given the priority instead aesthetics and superiority comes
at the first place.
This paper provides the appropriate typology of living which best suit the current scenarios as well
as the future possibilities. The kind of experience in carrying out the paper was a challenge
because of the contrary perceptions of various professionals. On the other hand it gives the
immense pleasure to showcase my study which on the very important issues in architecture today.
I hope this study would help the graduating students a logical approach towards designing
attributes.

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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 The Premise
With increasing density and greater need of intensive use of land, cities are expanding to the
enormous limits and on the other hand buildings are forced to push vertically so there is a need to
accommodate urban sprawl by demonstrating the correct typology in emerging the better lifestyle
for future. Cities, whether developed or developing all, are competing against each other for giving
the best infrastructure and prominent buildings without going into the other constraints which are
important for those building to be flexible for the environment as well as dwellers.
As the population is increasing, scarcity of land and acute shortage of affordable housing are
forcing the high-density residential buildings to the forefront. Demand for homes is increasing at a
vast rate not only a home but near a neighborhood which has an facilities such as easy access to
daily needs, smart transportation network, commercial activities, recreational spots and of course
employment opportunities. These are the aspirations of every individual for a smart growth
towards a better lifestyle, which is pushing the rural settlement to the urban centers making the
cities denser by denser in order to accommodate the present as well as future demand. According
to the census, the half of the population lives in cities which are expected to exceed to 60 % within
next two decades.

(1-scarcity of land)
: Ruyee, K. (1970, January 1). Economics World ! Retrieved September 27, 2017, from
http://economicsloveus.blogspot.in/2013/07/land-scarce-singapore-looks-underground.html

1.2 The Intent of the Dissertation

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  To bring out the correct path to differentiate the low rise, medium rise and high rise in
order to demonstrate the correct building typology so that in future, buildings can be
designed in efficient urban development strategies and designers can easily recognise the
better form out of low-rise, medium rise and high rise with their pros and cons towards the
city context.
 To identify the urban space through the perception of different users living in the low to
high-rise buildings.
 To analyze the experience of these users living in these parameters.

The Aim and Objective of the Research:

 Cities are already denser, there is no space for more horizontal flexibility, and they are
being extended to. To accommodate ever-increasing population there is need to go vertical
which can decrease the pressure on the horizontal land as well as a benefactor for the green
and recreational activities on the ground. But there are other factors in which man’s
aspiration increases to create the skyline to showcase the economic power, technology
demonstration and the race of creating the iconic buildings. As a result, the building is
itself fighting against several issues which are directly impacting the lifestyle of people
living in and nearby it, environmental and social factors.
 The study aims at making architects aware of the impacts generated by these three
typologies and which typology should be selected for present and future demands which
fulfill the requirement of better livability.

1.3 Definitions, Meaning, Abbreviations

There is no universally accepted definition for the terms low rise, medium rise, and high-rise, for
this study these terms have been characterized by the following:
Low rise: the buildings having few stories i.e. 1 to 6 stories.
Medium rise: the buildings which are intermediate between low rises and high-rise i.e. 7 to 13
stories.
High rise: the buildings which are characterized as tall modern building with many floors i.e. 13
above.
Urbanization: the migration of people from rural to urban areas in the need for better living as
well as better job opportunities. This began in industrial revolution when the workers migrated

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from the rural area to city centers for obtaining jobs in factories and industries due to which cities
are extended horizontally as well as vertically.
Urban area: an urban area is one that has a high population density and whose maximum
population is engaged in occupations other than agriculture, living in a highly built environment.
City context: the atmosphere or surrounding which gives a base to any built form. It can be
environmental, psychology or socially. The cities are the only environmentally sustainable form of
urban development for future generations. They are a sensible and economical way of creating
human settlements that offer a high quality of life.
Urban livability: the factor concerned with the overall enhancement of urban geography i.e. the
relationship of urban environment and the city dwellers which gives the higher quality of life.

1.4 The Central Claim:

The study would be providing an approach in giving the best favorable mode of human
settlement which would help in sustaining the cities for future generations. A development
which makes fewer amounts of footprints as well as makes cities socially sustainable.

1.5 The Research Question(s)

1. What kind of impact (socially, environmentally and psychological issues) are they
generating to the urban context?

2. Which is an appropriate low rise, medium rise or high rise as per the analysis of people
living in it?

3. What are the characteristics or trend in emerging a future solution?

1.6 The Scope and Limitations of the Research:

The study is focused on bringing out the livable parameters in mainly residential buildings which
are comprised of 70% of land use.
Today everyone wants to live in the housing pattern which is influenced by cities with a new
technological tower with superior quality living. Dubai and Chicago are one of them who are
competing with one and other to build the tallest structure ever. There is no doubt that their
construction methods have transformed the quality of living inside but the question arises the
outdoor environment i.e. the inside and outside the relationship.
The horizontal extension is not possible; there is a need to go vertical but within the limits of
human acceptance as well as satisfaction.

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CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Selection Criteria of the Literature
Purpose of the Literature Review: To understand the basic dimensions of the building
typologies in order to develop the arguments by analyzing the scope and limitation and then
bringing out the correct and best one for emerging the future solution.
The main purpose is to evolve the basic difference between low rises, medium, and high-rise, as to
why people are attracted to them and respond in manner. The key element associated with them
which make them adapt to those living parameters. There are many researchers as well architects
who have a different perception of these aspects. So reviewing their thoughts and analysis can give
a new path of understanding and making another inquiry to the subject.

Selection process of the Literature and method

The process in selecting literature part for the study involves the various research papers already
done by the researchers available on the internet by which various significant.
There was no study material in the form of books; the selection process was done by reviewing the
different journals and bloggers where various professionals and educated people have to share
some views and perception on the urbanization and vertical construction.
The self-sampling method was used to carry out the research by collecting the information from
the various online organizations who had taken part in research on their own. Various papers have
been compared and the material has been taken by analyzing them in an appropriate manner.

Strength of the collected data:

 Documents were freely available to use.
 Many of the secondary data was done by the very professional individuals in the field,
so there study is very useful as well as significant and by default data becomes very
relevant such as some of the data has been taken from the ‘Tall Building Council of
United Habitat’ which is the main council for the high rise building.
 Various impacts such as social, environmental and psychological issues listed are taken
from the journal of very famous architect who has received awards for their work in
sustainability in high rise building.
 There are some findings which are very detailed information which has explains to the
depth of the complex issues.
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  The data very well explains the issues driven by the urbanisation as well as the impact
of high rise buildings on the surrounding which gives a path to understand the need of
building vertical but with some limits so that footprint is less.
 The data collected has been taken from the international comparative studies which
give the vast perceptions and ideas of people from all over the world.

Limitation of the collected data:

 Main limitation of the secondary data is it is has vast amount of information but the
quantity is not synonymous of appropriateness because the primary researcher may not
have the same objective of doing the study.
 There was not an official literature so study is limited only on the online perceptions as
well as the research documents.
 There are some statistical data which does not fit neatly in the standard categories.
 Some of the information was some sort of abrupt but due to the less access to data, it
was necessary to rely on that.
 There are some contrary statements by several documents due to which it was difficult
analyse and at the same time to come on a satisfactory result.
 Some of the statistics reflect the biases of those in power, which limits the main path of
main findings.

2.2 Brief review of each referred documents (The Gap)

Various research papers have been viewed for the study which is as follows:
 SIGNIFICANT ISSUES IN AND AROUND HIGH-RISE RESIDENTIAL
ENVIRONMENTS:
In this document, the evolution of residential living has been given by listing various
parameters and trends by which man has transformed the living typologies. The main
focus has been given the high-rise construction and various issues which are developed
such as environmental, social and psychological by giving the advantages and
disadvantages of high-rise residential buildings and how can the sustainable environment
be achieved by giving a various recommendation.

 HIGH RISE BUILDING: NEEDS AND IMPACT:

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 This paper comprises of the essential need of making high-rise buildings as the land is
scarce and expensive so there is a need of good strategies so that intensive use of land is
possible. The consequences generated by the tall building have been listing out and
considering them in an urban fabric of the city. Various countries have been illustrated as
an example of high-rises such as China and Japan.

 PERCEPTION OF HOUSING ENVIRONMENT AMONG HIGH RISE DWELLERS:

This study is aimed at comparing the housing perception of high-rise dwellers with the
non-rise dwellers. The place taken here is Kolkata where they chose different age groups
between the high-rise dwellers and non-rise dwellers. The findings indicated an
unfavorable perception of the housing environment by the residents of high-rise buildings
irrespective of their genders.

 THE INFLUENCE OF HIGH-RISE BUILDINGS ON THE ENVIRONMENT:

The paper gives the review of the experimental studies on the environmental issues such as
urban wind conditions, solar radiation, the impact of urban heat island impact and the air
pollution which affects the indoor air quality. There are also some psychological issues
listed down which comprises of social failure and depression levels of people living in a
high-rise building.

 STUDY OF PHYSICAL-SPATIAL EFFECTS OF HIGH-RISE BUILDING:

This research paper brings out the various issues with the high-rise such as environmental,
physical spatial effects, functional, social and democratic aspects. Study conducts the plot
ratio and high-rise building policies in Mashhad. They have done the analysis on the two
major boulevards by using the SWOT method by listing out the advantages and
disadvantages of a high-rise building in both corridors.

2.3 Review of Documents/References

 SIGNIFICANT ISSUES IN AND AROUND HIGH-RISE RESIDENTIAL

ENVIRONMENTS:
This document briefly discusses the need to build vertically by putting forward good
example of high rise building in Hong Kong city and Moulmein Residential Rise in
Singapore where in which natural ventilation and sustainable energy use. They have
discussed the various issues regarding high rise such as psychological, social and
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 environmental. In psychological they have listed the isolation of children and elderly as
levels increases and insecurity of the dwellers. Stress factor in women increase as they are
bound in walls.
From the social perspective, they claimed that buildings lack sense of community and
social relations in neighbourhood. Historically many high rise developments came as an
failure and concerned as socially unstable. In 1960s these buildings changed to social
breakdown, crime and vandalism.
Symbolically they are considered as iconic buildings but after some time they are changed
to suicidal spots for example St. Louis’s Pruitt-lgoe housing project 1956 which was a
product of post war federal public housing program become as a danger zone.
In denser cities, providing good infrastructure with less environmental damage is getting
harder. Environmentally, there are many physical factors such as wind, sunlight, noise and
skylines which are major neglected in the high rise existence.
 HIGH RISE BUILDING: NEEDS AND IMPACT:
This paper aims at clarifying the needs and impact of high rise building in a way so that
they are free of issues around and in the high rise. By using some strict norms and
guidelines introduce by the local authority to control the hoc building of high rise to
provide successful integration into their urban context.
Document provides the need of high rise in today context to achieve high density
development. On the other hand, blamed the high rise as a typology of crime, mental
breakdown, they deform the quality as well as the public realm of the streets.
Criticism factor has been highlighted as they are source of power and prestige. Various
factors associated with the high rise counters the context, sustainability and environment
are over shadowed by them.
Egypt as a developing country has been used as an example where capitals are suffering
from the overloaded density of the population and other areas such as desert regions
remains same. Afterwards Chicago and Japan has been analysed in same density
conditions.
 THE INFLUENCE OF HIGH-RISE BUILDINGS ON THE ENVIRONMENT:
This paper have gone through various experimental studies by the great impact of high rise
buildings on the urban level such as heat island effect, comfort level ,ventilation, solar
radiation and social factors which leads to the crime and isolation.

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 First of all introduction has been given on the historical beginning of high rise structure
describing as the human fondness for height and wish to defy the earth gravitation force
for example pyramids of Giza, the ziggurat in Babylon.
Thus it has been stated that horizontal earth shading buildings have been replaced to the
vertical construction which has separated the open area and developed the unfriendly
environments and causing financial burden on the community.
Their experimental studies have shown that rise in the elevation of a building increases the
distance of the wind shadow and minimise the air flow in leeward direction, while the
depth till four times of its height does not affect the wind shadow.

(Wind shadows increases: a: by increasing the air velocity, b: increasing building height, c: it
doesn’t increase by increasing building depth- till four times of building height.)
Their conclusion was to aware designers about the ecological issues focusing on the green towers
which are designed as an intelligent building with low energy consumption and considers passive
alternatives to achieve comfort in and outside the building.

 IMPROVING THE SOCIAL SUSTAINABLITY IN HIGH RISES:

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This journal is about achieving social sustainability in high rises. People moved from suburbs to
cities for better opportunities, and then people moved to suburbs in search of better quality of life.
This statement is contrasting because increase in height and infrastructure facilities has created an
envelope between opportunities and quality, by which earth and its people are suffering from it.
Now it is the time for re-emergence of high rises. People are moving of the development which
offers them communal spaces for recreation and socializing. It is the responsibility of designers
and developers to translate spaces into sustainable and integrated residential spaces.
It discusses the advantages of social spaces in the low rise over the high rises where dwellers of
high rises are deprived of social spaces in terms of accessibility, individuality, adaptability and
hierarchy of spaces. On the other hand, highlights the advantages of high rises over the low rises in
terms of footprint, views, security, safety and pollution.
Some of the challenges and solution has been discussed for the provision of social spaces in
residential high rises. They are- building regulations which can create a big role in creation of
social spaces in tall buildings, the green roof incentive scheme encourages the installation of green
roofs on existing building. Then there is optimization, access and public private interface which if
applied properly and actively can resolve the issue.

2.4 Collating the Literature Review learnings:

(Figure-3: Cities in numbers: how patterns of urban growth change the world- by journal- the
guardians)

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According to World Urbanization Prospects 2014 revision, the population, which was 30% in the
1950s, is expected to be 66% in 2050. Concerning this increase in the urban population, it is
possible to say that, 2.5 billion people will be added to the urban population by 2050.

The declination of low-rise housing patterns:

Urbanization leads to the expansion of cities due to increasing population as well as the migration
of people in the need for employment and better infrastructure. The cities have already expanded
to their beyond limit, now there is no flexibility to make the horizontal expansion as already much
of farming and green land has been cut to raise the social and physical infrastructure. Historically
cities were built on most fertile regions which can be easily used for irrigation and easy to exploit
for agricultural need. Afterwards the idea took the path by another way of life; urban sprawl
continues to result in the instancing of agricultural areas which lead to environmental degradation
of urban areas. So there is need to limit these activities in order to make land available for the
farming and recreational activities which are bound to the ground for their overall enhancement.

The urban footprint:

There are 73% Europeans who live in urban areas which are known to be a most urbanized out of
the four global regions. The urbanization density in Europe is 314 people/sq which means the
urban residents of Europe only occupy 3% of total land area of the geographic region and a third
of the land is remain unpopulated which consist of many water bodies and mountains so their
urbanization density is very low and on the other hand India’s urbanization intensity is 10 times
higher.
India stands out for the far higher population densities in rural areas across vast territories such as
the Ganga valley, as well as the emerging presence of large cities like Calcutta, Hyderabad,
Bangalore, Mumbai, and Delhi. The dark gray areas in Northern India reflect the preponderance of
high-density rural areas which, by European standards, would be considered urban. While India
has an urbanization level of 32%, its urban areas represent only 1% of the total land surface of the
country, but only 5% of the country is unpopulated – a much lower percentage the other three
global regions. In India, the urbanization density threshold is by far the highest of the four regions,
at 4,128 people/sq km. (Reference: Cities in numbers: how patterns of urban growth change the
world- by journal- the guardians)

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 Figure-4 evolution of high rise
Suruchi Modi. 2014 ‘Improving the social sustainability of high rises’. Council on tall building
and urban habitat (1), 26-27.

The evolution of high rise:

The high rise concept was started in ancient Rome by building wooden residential buildings up to
four stories. After that buildings started developing by using bricks as their source of material.
Then 1991, North America build a sixteen storey building using the bearing wall construction.
After the several experiments and with the advancement of materials many buildings continued by
increasing height till the 60 stories in 1913 name, Woolworth building in New York. This age
remarked the golden age of skyscrapers with the completion of empire state building with 102
stories and considered as the tallest building of the world at that time. They were constructed
because of the special importance and visual advantages in building height. They were the
dominance of the skyline and visual creators of the scene. And such buildings were the result of
engineering and technical factors of the country.

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The trends in making the high-rise buildings:
 The rapid growth of population is resulting in the urban communities and therefore the
constant pressure of the limited land area affected the evolution of the building.
 Expensive land prices.
 Expression of progress and civilization.
 Restrictions on random expansion in major cities adjacent to agricultural land.
 The high cost of setting up new infrastructure for new cities.
 Showing advancement and available construction materials.
(Reference- High Rise Buildings and How They Affect Countries Progression)
 Example: empire state building as an iconic building showing as the symbol of progress
and economic power. It is 102 stories, 381 m mega tall structure.
 There is a power element motivating emerging states to pronounce their wealth and
success by building the taller tower than the country next door but underlying everything is
an instinctive desire to be closer to the horizon (reference- commercial real estate).
(Reference- Trends in American High-Rise Construction)

TALL BUILDING COUNCIL OF UNITED HABITAT

Strength, skill, and courage alone can raise us a little above a zenith but to soar to rise
above the way beyond. There is no doubting that humans love the challenge, this presents
conquering height is irresistible, intoxicating. It symbolizes success and has become a
measure of social, cultural and economic prosperity.

An aggressive race to earn the world’s tallest building title continues, while at the same
time, cities are constructing higher buildings in greater numbers in cities as diverse as
Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Dubai, Riyadh, Mumbai, London, to name only a few.
(Article by Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat of the 21st Century: A Global Perspective)

MEDIUM RISE PARAMETER

 Example: Europe-The Central City’s small blocks are an iconic part of its urban form
which provides a number of benefits including a friendly pedestrian environment and
frequent breaks in the street wall that help provide light and air. However, these small
blocks also complicate the development of the scenarios. Approximately forty percent of
Central City land area is devoted to public rights-of-way, much higher than in most other

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 cities (for example the figure is closer to 25 percent in San Francisco). This means that
remaining land must be more densely developed to achieve a desired gross level of
density. Additionally, low- and mid-rise perimeter block development common in Europe
and other places work much better where there is room to get usable central courtyards—
with small blocks, there is very little left after building around the edges.
Dense and sometimes high-rise development helps ensure efficient use of these small
blocks.

MEDIUM RISE BUILDING:

The building up to 13 stories has less impact to the surrounding as there are many factors
which make the medium rise a beneficial idea as compared to the high-rise:
 Less dense, so it can easily accumulate residents.
 Less maintenance.
 The probability of any damage is less, as residents become more responsible towards their
block.
 Heat island effect is less and can be easily controlled using some strategies.
 There are many possible ways by which medium rise can be designed to give residents a
natural environment by using vertical gardens, terraces. In this statement, there can be a
question that high-rise can also follow same strategies in obtaining the natural environment
but there are problems with the vertical gardens as they cannot be extended to further
because of insect development, seepage due to which building load increases etc.
 Skyline factor: there is a tendency by which human eye can easily view the buildings but if
this limit exceeds the view gets abrupt, the street aesthetics gets spoiled.

CHAPTER 3: Case Studies

3.1 Data/ case Selection and its Justification

The case is selected by going through the journals and newspaper about the current urbanization
scenarios and the impact of denser cities in the urban environment.
Data has been selected on the basis of qualitative method. Various research papers have been
selected for case analysis giving their perception towards the new typologies of living. This work
uses a variety of sources to provide the quantitative comparison of the low rise, medium rise as
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well as a high-rise in order to raise every important issue by which residents are facing as well as
how the environment is been affected.

3.2 The Case Studies

Type: lacked by maintenance

Plaza Tower, United States

Total floors – 45
Period – 21st century
Location- New Orleans
3-Plaza Tower
This tower was designed in the modern era of high rises. This Skyscraper is empty but yet it holds
the prominent place on the city’s skyline. This tower was known as the crescent city Tower when
ideas for redevelopment for mainly residential building were on table. The construction started in
1964 but within 2 years it got halted. Then it restarted in 1968, upon completion the plaza housed
both residential and office space till 1984, after that all the apartments were converted into
commercial use.
After having so much status the also the building suffered due to the poor maintenance cost and
problems caused by the asbestos, water damage and toxic mould. After that, 700 offices were
relocated and the tower was sealed.

Type : structural fault.

Pécs Magashaz, Hungary

Building type - Residential

Total floors - 25 floors
Building height - 84 mt
Construction completed- 1976
Figure-6. Pécs Magashaz, Hungary

One of the high rise buildings of the Hungary is named as the one of the tallest abandons building
in central Europe. It was developed by the baranya country state construction industry company in
1976.There was 800 residents who lived there over a decade. It abandoned due to the structural
fault. This flaw has caused the building beams to deteriorate over time. So it got finally evacuated
in 1989.then it was kept for restoration but it failed. Over time is structural components got
weather effects by which building had to be demolished. It took place in 2014.

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Type: Evacuation
Grenfell Tower

Location: north Kensington, London,

united kingdom
Construction started: 1972
Renovated: 2016
Destroyed: 14 june 2017
Height: 67.30 mts.
Storey: 24
Grenfell tower was housing complex with working class dwellers designed in brutalist style. The
tower was managed by the Kensington and Chelsea London Borough Council by Kensington and
Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation. It was built for the council housing but 14 flats of them
had been changed to right to buy policy which was occupied by the leaseholders and privately
rented out on the open market.

(Figure-8 Grenfell tower: Typical plan showing service core)

Causes for fire:
 Fire safety experts have pointed to cladding on the building as a possible reason the blaze
spread so quickly.
 Only one fire staircase for entire building.
 Faulty wiring
 Gas explosion.

What does it shows?

 Evacuation problem in high rise makes them a challenging in them with the lives of
dwellers.
 Fire safety concerns not appropriate.

3.3 Collating the learning’s from the case Studies

Page 24 of 48
All the case studies discussed above indicate that:
 High rises not only needs careful planning and design strategies but also needs high
and time to time maintenance.
 All examples are a failure of high rise development because there are many factors
which need to be understood such as their location, population density, technology,
evacuation, ventilation, and off course foundation to support heavy loads.
 They require life safety systems.
 They require high cost to be able to built as well as maintain for its lifetime.
 They highly require social spaces in order to attract people to occupy them or
otherwise they will act as dead towers whose urban footprint would cost more than the
horizontal development and the resources and energy used to make them would be a
total waste.

CHAPTER 4: ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

4.1 Discussion and Arguments

The kind of impact they are a generating in terms of:

 Social Spaces
 Environmental issues
 Psychological issues

Social spaces: there are many issues which are caused by the development of different typologies.
Sr. Issues Low rise Medium rise High rise
no

1 Access Movement of residents is Movements happen Movements happen

along the horizontal along the vertical along the huge vertical
plane which offers them elevators, long elevators, long
a physical as well as corridors, and corridors, and hallway.
visual experience. hallway.
Hallways are devoid of
people.

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 Elevators just take one
to the other desired
destination.
2 Participation Residents can actually In this settlement, The vertical settlement
involved in many residents are much does not allow these
activities with their closer than high-rise types of involvement
family and neighbors that they actually and interaction.
through semi-private interact with each
gardens. other as there is Residents of a
every possibility that settlement are far away
they coincide every that they find everyone
day within same strangers so there is no
elevator as well as such participation
staircase. although.
3 Individuality Along the streets, there The analogous The analogous
is uniqueness when corridors and lobbies corridors and lobbies
crossing every building make the inner make the inner
with their semi-open atmosphere very atmosphere very
private spaces, courts, monotonous and monotonous and
sitting spaces which boring. boring.
make them pleasurable.
There is a possibility
The spaces they use to to add some exciting
take the more horizontal element between
land. floors so make
spaces pleasurable
Heterogeneity in a social such as terrace
environment. gardens.
4 Adaptability Ability to expand and The spaces are fixed Less adaptive as people
adaptability allows yet there residents move within a short
people in making social share same corridor interval of time.
bond within the as well as

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 community. recreational zones so
they are adaptive but
There is a responsibility less than low rise.
factor which adds up
with neighbors.

5 Hierarchy In low rises, we have In mid rise we have There is lack of

spaces strong street networks different zones multiplicity of
full of activities like segregated such as interactive
lawns, gardens, sitting residential zone opportunities in a high-
areas, playgrounds surrounded by green rise.
which leads to the spaces which include
pocket parks and then to parks, sitting areas Semi-private spaces are
the communal zone. which are active less missing in tall towers.
as compared to low
rises.

6 Footprint There is less space for There are fewer They consume less
the communal spaces footprints than low area for residential use
and green as they use the rise. which adds up to the
more horizontal area for more green and
residential, so more communal spaces so
footprint. the footprint is small.
7 View There are good views in There are good There are very good
low-rise but less than views than low rise. views from high-rise
high-rise. which attract them to
But sometimes the outside.
The views can make people don’t prefer
them go out instantly or to outside due One can take the
any activity going on insecurity or overall scenario of
outside can make them laziness. neighborhood/
involve to the outdoor riverfront/ city etc.

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 environment.
8 Pollution The outside pollution The higher one goes The higher one goes
degrades the indoor the better is the air the better is the air
quality as well as noise quality which means quality which means
levels due to vehicular fresh, airy and fresh, airy and valued
movement. valued commodity. commodity.
9 Safety The level of
(Table-1-social analysis)

Environmental issues:
Sr Issues Low rise Medium rise High rise
no.
1 Urban pollution Heavy traffic may In medium rise, the As the wind pressure
prohibit occupants pressure of wind is not is high, the intensity
from opening window as high as in high-rise. is high so one cannot
vents. open the windows
and also affected by
cold air entering
from the outside. But
indoor air quality is
good.

At very high levels,

the high-rises
experience massive
levels of the pressure
differential which
can result in
fluctuation of the
heating and cooling
winds.

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2 Solar radiation There is not any These buildings always These buildings
damage by a low rise in infringe on the solar always infringe on
terms of solar rights of neighboring the solar rights of
radiation. buildings, making them neighboring
less comfortable and buildings, making
increasing heating them less
costs. comfortable and
increasing heating
costs.

Urban fabric is also

affected by reflected
solar radiation which
is caused by the
absorption of
radiation through the
walls of different
heights.
3 Daylight Low rise is the correct If properly organized Irrespective of
means of daylight as the daylight problem building depth,
they can welcome can be reduced in mid- lower floors of the
daylight through many rise. high-rise areas rarely
means. get adequate
daylight.

Increasing building
height causes large
wing shadows while
minimising air flow.

4 Lightning Low rise is affected The level is higher than The levels of
very less in comparison low rise but sufficiently lightning in the high-
to mid and high-rise. lower than high-rise. rise are

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 comparatively higher
than those of rural
areas.

5 Heat island No such harm Density, urban Density, urban

effect structure, the density of structure, the density
the built-up area, of the built-up area,
population, the width population, the width
of the street, building of the street, building
materials, the ratio of materials, the ratio of
building height to building height to
distance between them, distance between
surface materials and them, surface
sky view factor are the materials and sky
‘man-made variables’ view factor are the
that effects the heat ‘man-made
island. variables’ that
effects the heat
Thermal properties of island.
materials, Thermal properties
anthropogenic heat, of materials,
and the urban anthropogenic heat,
greenhouse effect, and the urban
reduction albedo by greenhouse effect,
canyon geometry, reduction albedo by
reduction in the canyon geometry,
evaporative surface are reduction in the
the physical properties evaporative surface
that are influential on are the physical
heat island. properties that are
influential on heat
island.
(Table-2-Environmental analysis)

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Psychological issues:
Sr. Issues Low rise Medium rise High rise
no
1 Mental health Residents feel very In medium rise, the High rise keeps
peacefully in the low- frequency of going children and elderly
rise settlement as they outside the building is from getting the
can access the outside higher than the high- exercise the extra
activities immediately. rise. effort to get outside
so they tend to stay
at home flipping on
TV.
2 Isolation These people stay In medium rise also the High rise people are
connected with the people are away from far away from the
outside environment so the activities on the green surrounding
they do not feel ground but they can see and the public
isolated in any way. and enjoy those things activeness so people
so the level of isolation get trap in that high-
is less. rise apartment which
has shortened the
lives of people.
3 Crime The rate of crime is The rate of crime is The rate of crime is
more in low-rise as less here than low rise less in a high-rise as
they are directly there are security
connected to the checks at various
outside i.e. streets, so levels.
there is always an
insecurity to the
owners.
4 Phobia No such symptoms. Minor effects. There is a symptom
of acrophobia which
is found especially
with the people
living in high-rise –

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 higher the level of
fear higher is the
discomfort.

Symptoms resemble
those of a panic
attack and include
palpitations,
sweating, dizziness,
and difficulty
breathing.
(Table-3: Psychological analysis)

Analysis of the data in the reference of literature and case studies.

4.2.1: This chart shows the percentage of issues which are satisfactory in terms of social,
psychological and environmental impacts.

60%

50%

40%

social
30%
psychological
environmental
20%

10%

0%
low rise medium rise high rise

Figure-9 shows low rise buildings more sustainable in comparison to medium rise and
high rise.
Page 32 of 48
 This chart is made up by the comparison chart listed in the post research as well as
from the case studies.
 This chart further shows that low rise are more sustainable in terms of social spaces,
mental health problems and environment effects. but on the other hand they require
much more land space than the medium rise and high rise buildings as well as there is
shortage of land. Agricultural land is being cut to build other infrastructure so now we
cannot rely on low rise buildings at all.
 High rise is not stable as they need more careful design consideration and they are
itself problem creating towers, which requires more starting cost, running cost as well
as risk and fears associated with them.
 On the other hand, medium rise buildings are not much socially stable but neither
influensive to the environment.

4.2.2: The factors in the high rise building

Figure- 10. shows the reason for which people dislikes the
vertical apartment living.

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 Figure-11 shows the reason
for which people likes the
vertical apartment living.
High rise
building

Likes Dislikes

S. Hanif, S. T. Ahmad and S. S. Saleem (2015) ‘the need to build upwards: a study on perception
of vertical/ apartment housing among middle income group of lahore’ Vidyabharati International
Interdisciplinary Research Journal 4(2) 39-57 (5)

4.2.3: Case study: the challenges faced by the Melbourne in high rise land administration.

It has been acquired by the document that density in the city of Melbourne in the central area of
CoM is four times more than the other major cities.

Figure-12 shows the increase in dwellings in central CoM, Melbourne, Australia.

Atazadeh, Behnam, et al. “Building Information Modelling for High-Rise Land Administration.”
Transactions in GIS, vol. 21, no. 1, 2016, pp. 91–113.

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Https://Www.researchgate.net/Publication/293325900_Building_Information_Modelling_for_Hig
h-rise_Land_Administration, doi:10.1111/tgis.12199. Accessed 23 Sept. 2017

Chart above indicates that majority of new apartments dwellings in this area is more than five
stories built between 2006 and 2012. The towers with 30 levels increased rapidly in 2013. This
shows how people are moving towards the high rise buildings because of the better infrastructure
as well as the other factors which are good in comparison of low rise which have been over-
shadowed by the high rise buildings, so they do not get enough daylight and views.

So this is how high rise buildings are impacting the surrounding buildings so there should be
careful consideration in selecting the building height so that it does not distract other surrounding
built environment in any way.

4.2.4: Case study: Medium Rise Building.

8 House / BIG

Location: Copenhagen, Denmark

Total floors: 13 floors

Total area: 61,000 sqm with 476 residences

Architect: BIG –Bjarke Ingels Group Figure-13 - 8 House/BIG

Project Year: 2010

This is a type of mix-used development which is made up of including 8 houses. It is a

neighborhood of Orestad. The bowtie-shaped 61,000 sqm mixed-use building of three different
types of residential housing and 10,000 sqm of retail and offices comprises Denmark’s largest
private development ever undertaken.

Different features of project underlie:

 It has a continuous public walkway which runs all way from ground to the tenth floor
allowing people to park their bikes at various levels.
 It has terraced gardens alongside of walkway.
 8 houses stacks the ingredients of lively promenade creating a three dimensional
neighbourhood where city life merges with the life patterns of suburban where business
and housing co-exist.

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  This project creates two intimate courtyards which are separated by the centre of cross and
it houses 500 sqm of social and communal facilities which are available for all the
residents.
 The building has a 9 m wide passage that allows people to walk from the park area on its
western edge to the water filled canals to the east.
 The commercial sector is placed on the ground floor whereas residential apartments are
placed on the upper floors for good views and fresh air quality and daylight.
 The offices have the active street life.
 Two sloping green roofs have been strategically place in order to reduce the urban hest
island effect which is the most unique identity of the project.
 Social life over here is expanded from the street to the continuous walkway which is
surrounded by the terraced gardens, which gives the feel of strong neighbourhood and
sense of community so that activeness is bound to have along the apartments.
 There is different type of residential units in the form of penthouses, apartment according
the requirement.
 The offices face towards the north light while the apartments faced towards sunlight and
views to the open spaces.

Analysis

The project has social and psychological response for its habitants as well as the environments
concerns for the building and urban context: as they have used various innovative tools by
maximizing social life by giving walkways, terraced garden, by sloping green roofs which attracts
the residents to actually come out of their units to enjoy outside life.

So this is how architecture works with the innovative techniques in order to cater the population by
giving good life which is environmentally responsive.

This project is great example of today current situation where not only housing units are important
but also good living conditions are also a challenge for the architects and designers.

Theories by architects……
In we look at the metropolitan, cities they look as vibrant and dense as if there is no space left to
breathe peacefully excluding heritage areas. For example Delhi which is a central hub, everyone
wants to live their because of better infrastructure and employment facilities. It is a type of urban
impact on the surrounding villages. It expanded and sucked the village lying in the outskirts.

Page 36 of 48
But now there is no such space left to expand it further. Then the concept of vertical city came, to
accommodate population to high rise buildings.
Now cities are divided into two parameters one is low rise and the other is high, one is expanding
horizontally to the enormous conditions causing no daylight, no air quality and worst living
conditions whereas one is expanding vertically with no such height limits, in the fame of making
most tall and iconic tower to show power and prestige and subsequently impacting the people from
its psychological effects and environment at its peak.
Yes, it is the fact that tall building have helped in accommodating the ever increasing population
in vertical concept which does not take too much space rather gives space for more green land. But
now it has changed to vertical sprawl.

Figure-14: Tin Shui Wai – the ultimate in vertical sprawl

Pedal Parity, 11 Feb. 2017, www.pedalparity.com/vertical-sprawl-definition/. Accessed 23 Sept.
2017.
So the study aims at finding out the factors which are impacting the urban context so that coming
buildings can be design by understanding the livability terms of people as well as the city
condition in order to improve the existing and future growth. This can be done by taking the best
suitable approach by limiting the building height in consideration of social spaces, environmental
effects and psychological issues.

4.2 The Final Comments

As far as the analysis is done by the collected data, people are moving towards the trend without
thinking the consequences of living afterwards so it is the responsibility of architects and designers
who are the drivers of making a built environment, that their work is causing positive effects or
negative effects on the environment and dwellers. There is a need to focus on the social as well as
the physical environment.

Page 37 of 48
 Figure-15: vibrant city
Ians. “World’s most vibrant cities are British empire’s real legacy: British MP and historian
Tristram Hunt.” The Indian Express, 18 Feb. 2016, indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/destination-
of-the-week/worlds-most-vibrant-cities-are-british-empires-real-legacy-british-mp-and-historian-
tristram-hunt/. Accessed 23 Sept. 2017

Cities are becoming a residue of vertical sprawl. The cities in the name of becoming vibrant and
attractive encourage as many people as possible. There was a concept of urban theory which states
that city should be built to higher density which helps to conserve the natural resources and has a
tendency to make people together, closer and easier to build and promote transport networks but
this concept has completely deviated by making the city a machine tower where people has no life
for open and recreational space instead they are being isolated from the green environment.

There are theories of le Corb – Ville Radieuse, concept of radiant city which was based on
monolithic mega skyscraper to increase the green space and sunlight, effective means of
transportation but these mission failed due to the expensive cost to built them and the fear of
people getting trapped in those towers and level of crime which leads to the safety factor.
Afterwards modern city concept given by the F.L.Wright on the urbanism vision came which has
given how the future cities should and that also got failed as it was limited to utopian plan for a
network of agrarian communities named as Broadacre city.

So there requires a strong concept for making cities sustainable but not the tall towers which can
alone solve the problem. People require comfortable environment such as: Safety and security,
privacy, social interaction, children play areas, proper day light, terraces or balcony, pleasant
weather, secures parking space, good air quality, no stress, interesting corridors, and waste
disposal areas, environmentally stable and most importantly technological strong which is possible
in medium rise typology.

Page 38 of 48
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS
5.1 Recapitulation of Research Question & its Significance

[Cities and machines are changing quickly, whereas man has recently started to become aware of
the changes and the decisions that it’s compelled to make.
Human being is already forced to face risks and mutations of the Nature by adapting its own
essence and survival instinct.
During this process of mutation the cities will change in line with their inhabitants influenced by
environmental forces and driven by an epigenetic development.] *
by cityvision

The Study is carried out to bring out the reason for which cities are expanding to their beyond
limits horizontally as well as vertically and now the situation is bad living conditions and higher
impacts on environment. So the first question was as follows:
1. What kind of impact (socially, environmentally and psychological issues) are they generating to
the urban context?

Environmental effects: High rise buildings produces the adverse effects on the surrounding
context i.e. microclimate due to the shadows which are cast on the surrounding building and cuts
their source of daylight. These building make neighboring building less comfortable and
increasing heat cost. They use more energy for operation and utilities as compared to the low rise.
The uses the more energy per resident as compared to the small low rise. High rise produces wind
funneling and turbulence around them at their base causing inconvenience for pedestrian. air
quality in low rise is bad due to outside pollution whereas high rises gives good amount of air
quality.

Thus high rise produces many challenges as per other typology

*Evolution: The Architecture of Future Mankind. Retrieved November 7, 2017, from

http://www.cityvisionweb.com/evolution

Psychological effects: As the height increases building makes the people isolated from the outside
environment especially to the elderly and children who does not get to go outside and breathe in
the open green areas. This is the direct cause of stress in the mind by getting trapped in the same
apartment. Various fears and mental health are associated with them such as acrophobia. The rate

Page 39 of 48
of crime gets increases in low rises due to the direct contact with roads. The safety is another
factor in low rises.

Social spaces: the level of social interaction in low rises is higher than the high rises. Adaptability
is less in high rise due to the lack of interaction and psychological effects. Some sociologist’s
claims that the environment of high rise buildings can make the residents feel claustrophobic by
creating a rat-cage mentality. Low rise people are closer to the nature which facilitates stronger
community-oriented social life. As the height increases, people become out of the touch with the
street life below.

This is how these effects (socially, environmentally and psychological) are interlinked with each
other in the livability pattern, if any one of them dominates the other gets influenced by it. So they
are significant in terms of defining the pattern of urban growth. They can be considered by
choosing the right kind of building form because first step of foundation is choosing the correct
typology in the mass urbanization so that people living there can not only be satisfied but also
happy.

2. Which is an appropriate low rise, medium rise or high rise as per the analysis of people living in
it?

Evolution of housing:

From history the man has done every possible solution for food and shelter. The word shelter
changed as man increased his aspiration of living in good quality conditions. The shelter which
was used for the jhopdis changed to wooden log structure and cave to as an temporary solution
into brick structure as a permanent solution as men started inventions of new materials. The
housing typology changed from 1 hall dwellers to courtyard planning and then from single storey
house to row houses, societies to apartment which are transformed into low rise to high rise as
aspiration increased as well as urban population expansion in cities.

Page 40 of 48
 Figure-16: Evolution of housing

Evolution of Houses in India. Retrieved November 7, 2017, from http://leewardists.com/comic-view/evolution-

houses-india/

So high rise buildings are the product of time for accumulating people close in the urban centers.
The question arises does it solve the purpose for which it is build?
The question has its merits and demerits because if we look at population level it serves the
purpose but on the other hand role of architecture was to satisfy physical, social and aesthetic
needs of society

Page 41 of 48
 Figure-17: MCD DDA Slum strategy
Paromita Roy. (0ADAD, January 0). Mcd Dda Slum Strategy Romi Roy. Mcd Dda Slum Strategy Romi Roy

The study has shown various analysis where land is not sufficient to expand further so we cannot
rely on the low rises due to the urban growth which taken place due to the rapid increase in the
population due to the two factors such as: natural increase in the population and migration of
people into the urban areas. in the recent time international migration is also increasing due to the
refugees, labor and undocumented migrants which also contribute to the urban growth.

Due to these factors the low rise is not the appropriate means for current scenarios. So the other
option is vertical expansion which is the appropriate means of accommodating population. It
started after the industrialization phase which resulted in more green spaces and space for
agricultural land and promoting the good transportation network but then an extremely opposite
phase arrived which actually changed the reason of making the cities denser and vibrant.

And now it has become a trend of making tall and tall building which is followed by the several
countries and has terminated to vertical sprawl due to the prestigious factors which are as follows:

Page 42 of 48
Technology demonstration, showing economic power, status of power and supremacy, iconic
landmark that attracts the city from all over world, civic pride, symbolic impact and
intensive use of land.

Such as world’s tallest building Burj Khalifa in Dubai with 828m high, second one is Shanghai
Tower in china with 632m high and third one Abraj Al-Bait in Mecca with 601m high.

Figure-18 ( Burj (Shangai Tower) (Abraj Al Bhait)

Shanghai Tower. (2017, Abraj Al Bait. (2017,
Khalifa) September 14). Retrieved September 19). Retrieved
Burj Khalifa. (2017, September 24, 2017, from September 24, 2017, from
September 21). https://en.wikipedia.org/wi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A
Retrieved September 24, ki/Shanghai_Towe braj_Al_Bait
2017, from
https://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Burj_Khalifa
And on the other hand high rise building has already many issues associated with them which have
been discussed earlier so they are also not the appropriate idea for urban context. Yes they make
skyline but we cannot forget the other significant issues. Although the emergence of high rise is on
full swing but unfortunately infrastructure, maintenance cost and sanitary condition is not fully
equipped to cope with the boom. Korea is the great example of this failure.

Now we are left with the only and best possible typology which is medium rise buildings where
the amount of footprint is less as well as the frequency to control everything is easier and possible.
It is not much impacted by the environmental effects as well as the cost and maintenance is less
and the other attributes such as green spaces can be added by introducing the vertical garden and
terrace garden because they also have the limits up to which they are efficient. Social spaces can
Page 43 of 48
be easily added in them at various levels which can easily reduce the level of isolation and
increase the level of social interaction which will indirectly reduce the rate of mental stress and
fears.

This typology can sustain the livability condition and can be great source to reduce the level of
vertical sprawl.

3. What are the characteristics or trend in emerging a future solution?

Cities of the world will grow day by day but to stop them in reaching unbearable proportion there
should be mandatory consideration to manage them properly.

 By limiting the height restriction, building can work better and can be controlled easier.
 There should be government policies on the building typology according to the location.
 Medium rise buildings are the best sort of typology but they should also be design in
accordance with neighbouring building at some good distance to avoid the shadow and
daylight cut:
 There should be some design guideline which should be followed holistically.
 Architectural practices have also relied on material innovation to make building
environmentally sound.
 Social areas can be added in between.
 Green areas should be planned depending on the different user group especially for
children and elderly for welfare and sustainable community.

Figure-19: 8 House/BIG-social spaces and sustainable community

5.2 Research Inference and its Significance

The study recommend the medium rise building as an satisfactory tool for the coming time due to
the scarcity of land and less harm to nature for building infrastructure. The study shows that urban
growth is growing at faster level so there should be norms for considering the correct typology

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because if horizontal expansion and vertical sprawl could not control then the day is not far when
building will become the machine where breathing in them would become another challenge for
architects. So to preserve, rest of the environment, some serious actions should be taken.
It is important that there should be ecological literature mandatory for making any building so that
the architects would be aware of the environmental effects as well as study of human behavior
should be considered.
Hence, this study needs more research to get more and better result so it should be enlarged
throughout the world.
5.3 Revisiting the Central Claim (in the light of Research inference)
As cities continue to expand horizontally, to safeguard against their reaching an eventual breaking
point, the medium rise building is favorable mode of human settlement by way of conquering
vertical space through agglomeration and densification so that cities can become sustainable and
people living there can be happy because they are the main drivers of future development so if
they would get an healthy and strong environment then only they can be more aware of the nature
and to preserve their resources.

5.4 The future Research possibilities

This study can be further used be in the context of Indian parameter with the boom of high rise
and also other developing countries so they do not lose the context and does not play with the
human behavior mainly in residential buildings.

CHAPTER 6: APPLICATION OF RESEARCH FINDINGS

6.1 Tentative area of Thesis

The research has been carried out for the residential building typology which occupies 50-55
% of the land use.
This land use is very important as it shares most of the man’s life. It is significant to a citizen’s
quality of life and the standard of housing will great impact on the overall health. A man
spends maximum time in its residential area where he gets to involve in social bonds through
social spaces and to perform day to day activities in its surrounding green area.
So the area for thesis comes to residential zone.

6.2 Applicability of Research Findings in the project

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The research compares the three type of typology present in housing sector that is low rise,
medium rise and high rise and then significant compares some issues which highlight them in
the sphere. So project will be the product of findings which is appropriate for not only today’s
scenario but also to future demand.

6.3 Thesis Topic and its validity

The dissertation topic takes to the residential building which means thesis topic would be
having a significant housing component in it.
This land use is one of India’s fastest growing sectors. A large population base, rising income
level and rapid urbanization leads to growth in this sector. In the Federal structure of the Indian
polity, the matters pertaining to the housing and urban development have been assigned by the
Constitution of India to the State Governments.
So, my thesis topic would be mixed use development.

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