Your say / climate change
‘War against climate change must be put above all by halting construction of these high-rise monsters’
There has been a long running debate about the dash for high-rise residential buildings in Bristol, as advocated by my successor mayor Marvin Rees, and seemingly continuing through the current regime.
Combined with opportunist land owners and developers and a weakened planning system we are seeing high-rise developments inflicted on parts of the city that are totally inappropriate for such development.
Many of us have advocated a more traditional form of urban development based on streets, squares and courtyards.
George Ferguson blames a weakened planning system, among other factors, for inflicting high-rise developments on “totally inappropriate” parts of the city – photo: George Ferguson
The June heatwave has brought attention to the hell of living in many of these high-rises, both publicly and privately owned. Many of these apartments are single aspect, denying residents the opportunity to create cross-draughts by opening windows on both sides.
Hot air rises so that the upper levels become unacceptably hot, and in some cases lifts have broken down because of the excessive heat, leaving people stranded 20 or more storeys up.
Families who should never be housed so far above the ground, stranded from natural places to play, have been beside themselves. Nights have been murderous, denying parents and children much-needed sleep.
With many schools closing far too easily, parents have had no escape during the day and many have had to take time off work to cope. This has particularly hit lower-income families.
Schools should be seen as much more than places of education but the hearts of our communities. The education authorities should consider the wider implications of closing for working parents, especially on lower-income families and those living in unacceptably hot conditions.
There is no easy fix. Air conditioning is often held up as the solution, but unless it is fully powered by renewables, it is simply another energy-hungry contributor to climate change and necessitates sealed windows.
Given that we are now stuck with these high-rise planning disasters, we desperately need a national programme of retro-fitting traditional solutions, the simplest of which are external blinds to prevent the sun hitting the glass, and far better insulation of external walls to reduce heating of the thermal mass that maintains the heat long after the air has cooled.
Such measures will reduce the amount of power needed to charge any air conditioning which should be a last resort.
We must put the war against climate change above all other threats by halting the construction of these high-rise monsters.
High-rise buildings rely on so much more energy-hungry solutions than traditional city buildings of up to 6 storeys which, following post-Grenfell building regulations, cause considerable additional development and running costs above that height.
The former mayor urges us to learn from other European cities on how to better insulate tall buildings from heat and cold – photo: George Ferguson
Let’s get a grip and stop this dash for height in the mistaken belief that it is the only way of producing high density in the city. Many European cities, which have experienced higher heat levels, have stuck to the human scale traditions of tree-lined streets and shaded courtyards that are fundamentally more attuned to hot climates. These are amongst the highest-density European cities. Many of them are characterised by external shutters and blinds, which can be designed to give greater interest and character to our buildings.
Let’s learn from our continental neighbours and make our lives better through both hot summers and cold winters.
This is an opinion piece by George Ferguson, elected mayor of Bristol from 2012 to 2016
Main photo: Karen Johnson
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