Vertical city. Retrospective and Current Stage of Development of the Multi-Tiered Structure of Urban Space

Abstract

The functional processes intensification and the search for sustainable development of high-density urban areas in contrast to the limited land resources are increasingly attracting architects and urban planners to the concept of a "Vertical City". Its structure is based on multiple duplications of a plot with the replacement of territorial zones by layers with the extension of citywide processes to underground, groundlevels and above them, which are subdivided according to the principle of functional affiliation and may include several floors. This research in chronological order of city formation stages considers examples of conceptual ideas and implemented solutions the planning organization of which is based on a multi-functional multi-level structure. The most striking embodiment of this concept in architecture is a skyscraper, the functioning of which includes all processes of life within a single shell and ignoring connections with street and nearby buildings. The catalyst for the multi-level planning of the city structure was the chaotic conquest of the ground level by road, which in various utopias was assigned both on the roofs of the building and on the undergroundlevel, along with engineering communications. The analysis revealed that the most vulnerable elements in this context are horizontal communications that connect autonomous structures and the ground area with a transit character of exploitation.