Public opinion about whether vertical cities are superior to horizontal ones or not is becoming increasingly polarized. From my perspective, each approach has its own advantages and disadvantages and should be considered equally when it comes to choosing where to live.
On the one hand, vertical cities dominated by towering structures are often believed to be more convenient and less time-consuming. As buildings in those cities are designed to serve a vast variety of purposes in a limited space, people who live and work in vertical cities can access several services without having to travel a long distance. This will improve citizens’ standard of living significantly, contributing to the overall happiness and productivity of the whole city. However, metropolises with thousands of skyscrapers and towers often struggle with serious problems. Since those cities focus on utilizing spaces provided by the height of modern buildings, the population density will be much higher than that of their conventional counterparts. Consequently, they, and their residents are prone to environmental contamination, increased mental health disorders, and respiratory diseases.
On the other hand, proponents of horizontal-planned cities argue that they have a much more environmentally friendly design than their competitors. This is because urban planners of those cities often concentrate on keeping the space of the city comfortable, and the architectural structures well-ventilated. This approach helps curb the problems in waste management, air pollution and overpopulation, which vertical cities are often vulnerable to. However, citizens of horizontal cities are reported to find it difficult to access multiple services and utilities without a proper transport system, as they are often a great distance far from each other. In addition, horizontal cities include several underdeveloped distant, or sometimes isolated areas, which may exacerbate economic disparity, as well as criminal activities.
To recapitulate, both vertical and horizontal cities are designed with certain purposes and target customers, so instead of arguing to pinpoint the better one, we should take the advantages and disadvantages of both into serious consideration, make evidence-based, unbiased analogies, then decide based on our preferences.
