Page 35 - Vertical City

RECONCILING HIGH-RISE LIVING AND THE SUN 35

drainage, waste disposal (primordial infrastructure for
the existence of any city), of water, gas and electricity
distribution, data, human transportation or transporta-
tion of goods in every form.

One can calculate that, at constant net density,
whether concerning isolated buildings on a square grid
or aligned along the borders of the streets, the volume
of these networks is minimal for five levels and increases
with the mean height of the buildings. What’s more
these five-story buildings can be comfortably ascended
on foot and thus do not require elevators.

It thus follows on, respecting the L/H rule, that the
networks of cities of three to four stories remain less
costly to build, operate and maintain that those of cities
of greater height, but also of those of cities with buil-
dings lower in height.

As we shall see, this model is, nevertheless, not any
more viable as the size of the monocentric city increases
(given equal connectivity) because the network load
increases disproportionately.

Traditional western cities were organized spon-
taneously, for most of their networks, in polycentric
groups of small cities (communities), relatively autono-
mous and with their own concentric networks.

Intense urbanization of these past decades has dis-
turbed the fragile equilibrium of these networks, crea-