London to become ‘Manhattan-on-Thames’ with nearly 600 skyscrapers set to be built

Almost 600 more skyscrapers are set to be erected across London making the capital look like ‘Manhattan-on-Thames’.

There are 583 buildings more than 20-storeys high ‘queueing up in the pipeline’ over the next decade, think-tank New London Architecture (NLA) has found.

This is more than double the 270 which have been built over the last 10 years.

It comes after Southwark council approved three towers which will create a new skyscraper ‘cluster’.

The demand for taller buildings has been fueled by ‘the demand for office and residential space, overseas investment and a supportive planning environment’.

The group’s co-founder Peter Murray said: ‘Tall buildings have changed the face of London substantially over the past 20 years and will continue to do so – the pipeline that NLA has tracked means there is at least 10 years’ supply that has already been defined.

‘London’s population continues to grow, passing the 10 million mark at the end of this decade.

‘We still need tall buildings and NLA will continue to keep a close watch on what’s going on.’

Of the city’s skyscrapers, the Shard was found to be the favourite of Londoners, having take over the Gherkin, according to the report London’s Growing Up: A Decade of Building Tall.

It also remains the capital’s tallest building at more than 300 metres long.

Outside of the centre of the city, the most popular areas for high-rises include Bankside, White City, Nine Elms and Wembley.

But 32% of London’s population think the city has too many tall buildings, the Evening Standard reports.

Mr Murray said: ‘Tall buildings have changed the face of London substantially over the past 20 years and will continue to do so — the pipeline that NLA has tracked means there is at least 10 years’ supply that has already been defined.

‘London’s population continues to grow, passing the 10 million mark at the end of this decade.

‘We still need tall buildings and NLA will continue to keep a close watch on what’s going on.’

The increase in skyscrapers began under London Mayor Ken Livingstone and has continued ever since.

This is despite his successor – Boris Johnson – pledging not to create ‘Dubai-on-Thames’.

The demand for ‘greener’ grade-A office space has helped fuel the demand for skyscrapers, as well as student housing.

Nia Fraser, from the planning and development team at consultants Gerald Eve, said: ‘We’re going to continue to see tall buildings.

‘It’s more difficult, but that’s more to do with the challenging economic climate and we might not see those with planning consent brought forward until the market is more buoyant.’

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