The thing is, high-rises aren’t the first thing cities should look to if they want to densify. There are a lot of options that can add to, not take away, from its organic vibrancy and sense of community. Counterintuitively, densification can be isolating rather than connecting. You’d think that adding more people to a smaller place would automatically mean more social cohesion. But high-rises have the exact opposite effect. Piling people into tall buildings separates them from the street and from each other, creating silos of isolated people looking at other people from a distance. It doesn’t have to be that way. Cities don’s have to be isolating. There are ways to add density and at the same time build community.
To see the article, go here: http://bloomingrock.com/2015/02/02/5-ways-to-add-density-without-building-high-rises/