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There was a chart I saw somewhere that showed the ideal relationship between a person's height, the streetwall, and also how tall trees are. From what I've mostly seen, the ideal height is 2 to 3 stories, partly because that's how tall most trees in an urban area will grow to without disturbing the surrounding pavement/utilities. If I found the chart, I'd be more sure of it, but I think that was the gist of it.
I believe walkability is closely linked to aesthetics. why? for the simple reason that people don't like to walk in ugly places. aesthetics might appear to be a trivial pursuit, but its not. good aesthetics is integral to good urban design. a city with good aesthetics, makes people want to go outside and walk, bike, take transit etc. otoh a city that's not so easy on the eyes, makes you want to stay indoors and rarely if ever venture outside of your home, or you car.
though admittedly, an aesthetic urban environment is not easy to implement. because its easy to make something look ugly (that requires no effort) but not so easy to make it appealing to the eye. its not something you can learn overnight. its an art and a skill which the modern urban design and architectural professions seem to have long abandoned, in favor of the cardboard box aesthetic cheaply mass-produced on the assembly line.
Man used to walk around barefoot. Occasionally he'd run barefoot too--when he was chasing down his next meal.
Fast forward thousands of years later...if it ain't pretty, I ain't walking!
For whatever reason I prefer 2 stories over 1 story. One story is too low slung and flat feeling.
I don't have much of a preference... I guess 2 stories gives more of a sense of enclosure. Beijing's hutongs are predominantly 1 storey: Beijing hutong | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
As for congestion due to skyscrapers, it's surprising how few cars you see in Hong Kong on streetview. Most of the vehicles seem to be buses, trucks and to a lesser degree taxis with just a few cars. Sidewalks and roadways are busy, but aside from the busiest streets, I wouldn't call them crowded/congested. Its subway is not that extensive compared to Western cities when you consider Hong Kong's population and density, so if it was expanded it wouldn't have so many buses taking up street space, not to mention Hong Kong's population is fairly dispersed with thin strips of urbanity in valleys and along the shore separated by unpopulated mountains, which increases distances.
Man used to walk around barefoot. Occasionally he'd run barefoot too--when he was chasing down his next meal.
Fast forward thousands of years later...if it ain't pretty, I ain't walking!
people today who live in the country and more rural areas, generally love to walk in their environment because they're surrounded by natural beauty. similar to early man.
speaking of which, that's the difference between a person and a robot. people have the ability to appreciate beauty. since the dawn of time, man has lived in the natural world surrounded by natural beauty. its been programmed into us by evolution. our brains are hard-wired to appreciate the beauty of our natural environment. beauty is something that people require for their well-being and mental health. its not frivolous. that's what makes us human and not a mindless drone. conversely, when people are surrounded by a lot of ugliness, it creates mental problems, leads to poor health, neurosis, depression, etc.
4-5 stories, let alone 7-8 can be quite high density, not really sprawl at all. For example, take a look at these examples:
Whether they are practical and desirable to build today is another issue, but these examples are certaintly not sprawling. They all function fine, too. They are in a city with an enormous high rise commercial district, but DC has one of the largest centralized downtowns by employment and it has few if any skyscrapers.
...
And if it goes out in all directions for, say 10-20 miles, what do you have? Sprawl!
And if it goes out in all directions for, say 10-20 miles, what do you have? Sprawl!
[dense sprawl is still sprawl]
A circular shaped city with 4-5 storey buildings throughout and with a radius of 20 miles would also have about 50 million residents (assuming 40k ppsm average density), more than any existing city by a good bit.
A circular shaped city with 4-5 storey buildings throughout and with a radius of 20 miles would also have about 50 million residents (assuming 40k ppsm average density), more than any existing city by a good bit.
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