The majority of the population of Hong Kong and Singapore live in a high-rise building. This book looks at these two cities to understand the advantages and concerns of high-rise living. It presents key points and lessons.

This book is intended to fill a knowledge gap in the study of contemporary high-rise living. While there has been much documentation on the engineering and technological aspects of tall buildings, relatively little has been written about the social and livability of high-rise. Much less is written about Asian cities even though Asia is the current hotbed of high-rise development.

Even though traditional discourse of high-rise housing is not always positive, new forces are redefining its place in 21st century urbanity. Many cities around the world are reembracing high-rise in urban agenda under current narrative of sustainable development. High-rise is fast becoming a priority area in international research agenda. The quest is for livable and sustainable high-rise development. Against the background of current trends--globalization, urbanization, mixed-use development, and new-built taller buildings in inner city areas in both developed and developing countries, this book examines the software: design, economics, estate management, legal and property rights, physical environment, planning, community development, and social dimensions of high-rise living. Analysis is with the widely acclaimed successful high-rise public housing in Hong Kong and Singapore to understand the advantages and worries of high-rise living, and to distill the key points and lessons in the making of a ‘good’ highrise living environment. Hong Kong and Singapore have been constructing high-rise for more than four decades each. The majority of their population has moved to live in high-rise, selecting to live high-rise, and registering consistently high residential satisfaction. The height of apartment buildings in both cities continues to rise. The tallest is anticipated to be 70-storey. It is the contention of this book that contrary to earlier common negative discourses on public high-rise living, the high-rise environment may yet offer urban residents a satisfying dwellingexperience. Leading housing academics, researchers and practitioners in the two cities have contributed to this book. This book presents a timely contribution to our understanding of a widening urban phenomenon that will affect a growing number of the world’s  population.

1. Introduction: Tall Building Living in Asian Cities.- 2. Tall Building Living in High Density Cities: A Comparison of Hong Kong and Singapore.- 3. Planning and Design of Tall Residential Buildings.- 4. Physical Environment of Tall Residential Buildings: The Case of Hong Kong .- 5. Planning and Design of Environmentally Sustainable High-rises.- 6. Garden and Ecology in the Sky.- 7. Legislation and Safety of Tall Residential Buildings.- 8. The Value of Clean Air in High-Density Urban Areas.- 9. Liveability of Tall Residential Buildings.- 10. Community Development in Tall Residential Buildings.- 11. In the March of High-rise.- Appendix – CD-ROM included inside back cover The State of Urban High-rise Research: An Annotated Bibliography.- Index.