The Development of Apartment Buildings: The Solution of High Density Urban Living

The Development of Apartment building, The Solution of High-Density Urban Living.

With all the industrialization and urbanization in the world today, the population explosion has been become a serious problem. Research indicates that the better does a country developed, the worse situation it will be faced(Jensen,1966).
To earn more living space in this situation, architects attempts to build apartment buildings of high-density instead of the traditional houses. This assignment will firstly explain the development of apartment building, and then demonstrate some of its applications in the urban area of high-density population. Finally it will conclude with an evaluation of its contributions to the field of architecture and sustainable environment.

To begin, it is necessary to be clear on what is the definition of apartment building. An apartment is a self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building. Such a building may be called an apartment building. (Wikipedia,2013) Apartment began to appear all over the world around the early 19th century. In 20th century, apartment divided into various types such as studio, garden apartment, two-story flat and facilities. Nevertheless, the different types of apartment buildings are served as a same goal, which is to solve the problem of population explosion.

According to the population explosion theory, after the start of the Industrial Revolution, the rate of population growth began to increase at an alarming speed. By the end of the century, the world's population was estimated at just under 1 billion. At the turn of the 20th century, the world's population was about 1.6 billion. By 1940, this figure had increased to 2.3 billion. Overpopulation issue has drawn a lot of c...

... middle of paper ...

...ling breezes in summer can be disrupted for nearby buildings also. Finally, living in a apartment building could led to noise insulation and privacy issues.

To sum up, although the development of apartment buildings comes with some unsatisfactory, it still could be treat as a good solution to the high-density urban living and one of the greatest technology achievements in last century.

Reference：
Jensen, R 1966, High Density Living, Leonard Hill, London.
Pont, M.B and Haupt, P 2010, SPACEMATRIX: Space, Density and Urban Form, NAi Publishers,Rotterdam.
Safdie, M 1966, Habitat, a design for high-density urban living, Cement and Concrete Association, London.
Wikipedia, ‘Apartment’,2013/12/2,< http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apartment>
Wikipedia, ‘Public housing estates in Tai Po ’, 2013/12/2,