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UK Cities Planning New Wave Of Skyscrapers

Posted by: Christian Madera

10 March 2007 - 9:00am

British planners have green-lighted a dizzying array of new high-rise projects, though some question the benefits of building tall.

"Look up and take note - Britain's urban landscape is changing. Fast.

Liverpool is the latest city to unveil proposals (pictured above) to build big and build high. The £5.5bn plan for its famous waterfront includes more than 50 high rise buildings, some more than 50 storeys.

In Leeds and Manchester, planners have rubber-stamped proposals for skyscrapers which will be just shy of 200m. Further down the line, a 280-metre observation tower has been mooted for Birmingham.

London's appetite for skyscrapers is well known, but when, three years ago, construction workers topped off Liverpool's 90-metre Beetham Tower, they unwittingly started a trend for regional cities to build high. The tower has since been dwarfed by one in Manchester, of the same name (171m).

For decades the UK has preferred to keep its tall buildings commercial...But this latest trend is largely residential, despite the memories of the concrete tower blocks some of which are still being demolished. So what's stimulated this dash to build high?"

Full Story: Thrusting ambition
Source: BBC News, March 8, 2007
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