Why are the buildings made higher ?

 In the modern era, a culture of higher building has been developed. All the big cities in this world have higher buildings in great numbers. Now, the question comes in our mind is that what is the need of higher building ? Why we are frequently constructing high rise buildings?

 With the development of our cities, it became a need to accommodate the city's population. This need promotes the city to grow horizontally as well as vertically. The construction of higher buildings is the part of this development. In this article, we will talk about causes and effects of Higher building.

 Before talking about higher buildings, we need to understand the term 'urban sprawl'. Urban sprawl means outwards expansion of city. The cities for which space is not an issue, urban sprawl is an easy solution for a growing population. but we can't leave the cities to expand outwardly. It has adverse effects on the environment as well as on the society.

Urban sprawl requires a large network of roads. The distance between two city center is long and we can't travel this distance on foot. we will have to use car which will ultimately affect the air quality of the city and will increase the fuel consumption.  Large network of road also increases the commute time.

 Water distribution system is an another requirement of city. In the case of urban sprawl, a large network of water pipeline is also needed. A large network of water pipe means the more chances of leakage of water.  

 Establishing a large network of road and water pipeline is not an easy and economical acts. It involves money in great amount and also man work. Thus, urban sprawl is not much suitable for the development of cities.

 In the above scenario, higher building becomes a need for the city having less space to expand and also for the cities which have space to expand.

Now, let for a 3 - BHK flat we need 150 m^2. If we construct a 10 - stories building, it will accommodate the 10 family in 150 m^2 area. In the case of urban sprawl, 150 x 10 = 1500 m^2 area will be needed to accommodate the 10 family which is much much greater than the previously acquired area. Thus, if we prefer multi - stories building, we can save the area in great amount and use those area in other activity.

Another advantage of vertical development of city is that it reduces the distances between different types of city centers. It saves our time and money (less fuel consumption). We can also be pedestrians to travel these short distances which is an eco-friendly activity. It will also reduce the road network and water pipeline network. Less network of water pipe means less chances of leakage of water. Thus, in one sentence, we can say high rise buildings promote sustainable development of the city.

But high rise buildings have its own disadvantages also. It blocks the sunlight from going to the neighbor area. This is an irritating thing for the people who live in neighbor. It reduces the happiness of human being. An another disadvantages is that they increase the traffic volume at the origin and destination points of the traffic. For example, in a multi stories building a lot of people live. All have to go to office at 9:00 AM sharp. In this case at 9:00 AM, the traffic volume on the road near the building will be increase. But it is not much considerable as it can be easily handled by establishing good traffic controls.

Thank you.

civil engineering