The effects of high-rise residential construction on sustainability of housing systems

© 2017 The Authors. Increase in urban population is resulting in increased population densities through high-rise residential buildings. High-rise residential buildings have some unique aspects. The purpose of the study reported in this paper is to assess the role high-rise related aspects can play in sustainable development. The research adopted a two-step approach. First, on the basis of a detailed review of the literature published on high-rise buildings, the aspects unique to high-rise buildings are identified and shortlisted through brainstorming sessions. The aspects are then allocated to some basic properties of sustainable systems obtained from published work. Second, through another explorative brainstorming on high-rise residential building aspects, a cause-effect relation among various building aspects and related issues is developed using a system dynamics modelling. This study used about 54 building aspects majorly found in high-rises. The findings show that the aspects affect sustainability in both the positive and negative ways. Linking the various building aspects together has also resulted in a cause-effect diagram visually explaining how constructing high-rise for a residential purpose can pose a fairly complex problem in terms of sustainable development. The findings show that most of the high-rise related aspects positively affect the effectiveness property of both the building and natural systems while also creating a detrimental effect on the psychological needs of humans. The qualitative assessment undertaken within this study for understanding the role of high-rise residential buildings in sustainability can lead to further research exploration in the subject area and can increase the understanding of high-rise complexity, consequently leading to well informed sustainable approaches.