The Best Cities for Low Carbon Emissions Aren’t the Tallest
A dense urban layout of low-rise buildings is more climate-friendly than one packed with skyscrapers, a new study says.
Tall order: In fast-growing Shenzhen, China, high-rises dominate the skyline.
Photographer: Billy H.C. Kwok/BloombergAs the world continues to urbanize, cities are reaching new heights every year. The southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, for example, built 14 new skyscrapers in 2018 alone. The pursuit of such lofty living spaces follows the conventional thinking that it’s more sustainable for growing cities to build up than build out.
Compact, high-rise cities are the antithesis to urban sprawl, and in theory, they limit the carbon footprint of the built environment in part because they can house more people in fewer structures. That’s significant considering that buildings currently account for more than half of a city’s emissions on average. Living in a dense city is also notably less energy-intensive, on a per-person basis, than spread-out suburban or rural life.