WHY there are no skyscrapers in Europe

The tallest building in Europe is located in Poland, the Warsaw skyscraper, which is 310 metres
high, an absolute record for Europe. And here is the tallest skyscraper in China, which is twice as
tall - 632 metres. The question arises: why can't Europe build a building that is at least remotely
close to skyscrapers in Asia or America? In this video about why skyscrapers are not allowed in
European cities, you will learn right now why Europeans hate tall buildings. I will talk about the key
difference between European and American cities, and show you possible options for what future
skyscrapers in Kyiv will look like, if they will exist at all. The first skyscraper in history was built in
Chicago in 1885. It had an incredible height of 42 metres and 10 floors. You may agree that this is
not very exciting now, but at the time, this building was the tallest in the world. Over time, more
and more high-rise buildings have appeared in Chicago. It is interesting that this city, not New
York, is the birthplace of skyscrapers. Obviously, today's perceptions of skyscrapers are completely
different from those of the past. Today, a skyscraper can be considered a building with a height of
150 metres or more, which is approximately 40-50 floors. There are about 100 such buildings in
Europe today, but New York alone has almost three times as many skyscrapers as the rest of
Europe combined. So how is it that rich, developed cities in Europe are building almost no
skyscrapers? First, let's take a look at history. At the beginning of the 20th century, the United
States began to develop very rapidly, the economy grew at a frantic pace, which led to the rapid
expansion of American cities, and the United States became a symbol of a new era. Europe, on the
other hand, preferred to stick to tradition and preserve its historical heritage.

Most European cities were already quite densely built up by the time the US started building its
first skyscrapers.

Some residential buildings in Europe are even older than the United States itself, so there simply
wasn't enough space in European cities to cram giant buildings in.

Okay, so that explains why skyscrapers started in the US and not in Europe. However, it does not
explain why Europe continued to lag behind in this regard. In fact, it gets even more interesting.

The fact is that nowadays the most important task of skyscrapers is to save space, which is
especially important for countries like China. For example, every major city in China is home to
more than ten million people, and almost all of them work in such a way as to compactly fit them
all into offices. They have to build skyscrapers in the business centres of cities.

In Europe, however, there are no such problems with overpopulation. Of course, there are other
reasons for building skyscrapers, and not the least of them are basic necessities.

I'm sure you've often thought that the more skyscrapers a city has, the more developed it is. They
are like financial muscles that cities flaunt to the whole world to show how cool and awesome
they are. I used to think so myself.

Okay, now let's look at London. As we know, it is by far the most important financial centre in the
world. Billions of dollars are traded there every day, and the world's largest companies have their
offices there. And what do we see, or rather, what do we not see? Yes, an endless number of tall
skyscrapers. There are only 30 skyscrapers in London, and when we look at them, their unusual
shape immediately catches our eye. It is so for a reason. There are 13 so-called "protected views"
in the city, places from which you must have a view of St Paul's Cathedral.

In London, it is forbidden to build buildings that block the view of this cathedral from one of the 13
places. So it turns out that in order not to block the protected view, architects came up with such
bizarre forms. Europeans don't need tall modern buildings, they block the sky and spoil the
historical atmosphere of a city in Europe. They understand that what is a symbol of modern
architecture today can turn into a garbage dump for the city in the future. This once happened to
Soviet Khrushchev and similar buildings. Let's take Lisbon as an example to see this. There is an
observation deck in the Edward the Seventh Park, which offers a great view of the entire park and
the river. Now imagine what the view would be like if a bunch of 400-metre skyscrapers were built
there. All the beauty of this historic place would be distorted and the view of the river would be
blocked.

But don't think that Lisbon is an isolated case. European cities simply don't want to build
skyscrapers in order not to spoil the historical value of the city. Take Germany, for example. For
example, it has only 16 buildings taller than 150 metres, and interestingly, 15 of them are in
Frankfurt. Even the capital Berlin does not have a single skyscraper. Munich is an even more
illustrative example. There, it is generally forbidden to build buildings that are taller than the 100-
metre-high Cathedral of the Holy Virgin.

A very interesting situation has also arisen in Paris. It is forbidden to build tall buildings within the
city so that they do not overshadow the historical landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower. However, as
you can see in the photos, there is one exception to this rule - a building that Parisians hate with
all their hearts. This is the Montparnasse Tower, and its height is 210 metres, making it the tallest
skyscraper in Paris. It is not hard to guess why it is so disliked. You must admit that this huge dark
box looks completely out of place next to the Eiffel Tower and other historical buildings. There is
even a saying that the best view of Paris is from the roof of yours, because it is the only place in
Paris from which you cannot see the Montparnasse Tower.

After the construction was completed in 1969, the authorities realised their mistake and
subsequently introduced a ban on building houses taller than 35 metres.

And what about the famous Parisian financial centre, La Défense, which is just so dotted with
skyscrapers? Well, it was allowed to be built because it is far enough away from the city to not
spoil its view. However, even it has only 21 buildings taller than 150 metres.

What about the situation with skyscrapers in Ukraine? At the moment, we have only one, the Znak
residential complex at 7 Klovsky Descent in Kyiv. It is 168 metres high. As you can see, we are still a
little short of New York. However, do not rush to judgement.

In 2020, the concept of creating a business centre in one of Kyiv's industrial districts, the so-called
Kyiv City, was launched. You can see its project on the screen.

You probably thought to yourself, "Does Kyiv need such a centre?" In fact, it does. Let's think for
ourselves. Usually, large office centres are created in cities where a large number of international
companies are concentrated, as well as where there is a lack of space. Neither of these is the case
with Kyiv. Moreover, such high-rise buildings would block the view of the right-bank slopes of the
Dnipro River, which are listed as a UNESCO heritage site.
We want to have the look of a comfortable city. We don't need big, Dubai-like projects, but rather
quarterly, compact European neighbourhoods where it would be good to live and work.

Vocabulary
Слова:
1. Skyscraper - Хмарочос
2. Absolute record - Абсолютний рекорд
3. Lag behind - Відставати
4. Overpopulation - Перенаселеність
5. Preserving historical heritage - Збереження історичної спадщини
6. Protected views - Захищені види
7. Historical atmosphere - Історична атмосфера
8. Distorted beauty - Спотворена краса
9. Out of place - Несхожий на місце
10. Famous landmarks - Відомі пам'ятки
11. Authorities - Влада
12. Ban on building - Заборона на будівництво
13. Lack of space - Недостатність місця
14. Dubai-like projects - Проекти на зразок Дубая
15. Compact neighborhoods - Компактні райони

Summaries
In this video we can find out why skyscrapers are not allowed in Europe, compared to Asia and
America.
It explains that the historical heritage and preservation of European cities, which were already
densely built, contribute to the lack of space for skyscrapers.
Europeans don't need tall modern buildings, they block the sky and spoil the historical atmosphere
of a city in Europe.
Chicago is the birthplace of the skyscraper. The Home Insurance Building, completed in 1885, is
regarded as the world's first skyscraper.
The main purpose of skyscrapers today is to save space, which is crucial in countries with high
population density like China.
In Europe doesn’t face the same overpopulation challenges. In such cities as London, Paris, Lisbon
rules limit the construction of tall buildings to preserve historical value and landscape.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrT2ir8u25A Чому в Європі немає хмарочосів