New tower of glass opposit the golden cross

Two of the most affluent provincial cities in the uk-- Edinburgh and Bristol- have turned their backs on high rise . They are rich and attractive cities .

It's not the case that Bristol has 'turned its back' on high rise. It's more that the city has had totally dysfunctional local government for the best part of two decades. Hardly anything major ever gets built, be it low or high rise. The saga of the Bristol Arena and the two football grounds are good examples of what a combination of weak local government and excessive nimbyism brings you.

In Cardiff's case there isn't a natural way for the city centre to expand. It is surrounded on three sides by high density terraced housing in established neighbourhoods (Riverside, Adamsdown, Grange etc). With the space abailable in the city centre the only way to get density is to build upwards.

Surely that's going to be the case with most(/all?) UK cities, where they've evolved rather then been planned from the ground up? There can't be many cities where there are great swathes of development land available a stone's throw from the centre. High density is what "urban" effectively is.

There are hardly any tall buildings in Bristol. There are none in Edinburgh. Both are rich and attractive cities.

And I should add that there's been massive , quality, development in Bristol compared to Cardiff. Sad but true.

Interesting re Bristol. Not aiming for contrary but I was in Bristol earlier in the week. I haven’t been there for some time. I walked from Clifton to City Centre - it struck me as a busy city but road network aside, I didn’t see anything that I thought ‘Oh Cardiff would benefit from that’ In terms of quality it wasn’t a space hop away.

There are hardly any tall buildings in Bristol. There are none in Edinburgh. Both are rich and attractive cities.

It depends how you define tall, I guess. If you mean over 50m Bistol already has;

Castlemead (80m)
Eclipse (65m)
One Redcliffe Street (64m)
Colston Tower (64m)
Fusion Tower (63m)
Radisson Blue (61m)
Premier Inn (60m)
One Bristol (59m)

Planning consent has been given for three more 50m+ towers. Hardly a case of 'turning its back on tall buildings'

There are hardly any tall buildings in Bristol. There are none in Edinburgh. Both are rich and attractive cities.

Much of Edinburgh is a Unesco world heritage site, and development is curtailed appropriately.

Not much danger of that happening to Cardiff.

I might be wrong but I think there are approved plans for at least three 70m to 90m towers in central Bristol. Quite a big shift from 10 or 20 years ago. Probably what's changed is that there's been something of an economic boom/bubble in inner Bristol, but like Cardiff, there is a shortage of land available for development hence the move back to taller buildings, at least in certain parts.

Bristol does have quite a number 'high-rises' but namely from the post-war era, including a large number of council tower blocks. The taller stuff also seems to be mixed in with everything else and not as clustered together like in Cardiff. Also lots more 'taller' mid-density stuff dotted around too.

The damage from the post-war period means the city will never be that keen on embracing high-rises imo. Cardiff isn't quite as restricted in terms of historic bits that need protecting, and like others have said there's only so much land available to develop, so it makes sense to make the most of the available footprint.

I might be wrong but I think there are approved plans for at least three 70m to 90m towers in central Bristol. Quite a big shift from 10 or 20 years ago. Probably what's changed is that there's been something of an economic boom/bubble in inner Bristol, but like Cardiff, there is a shortage of land available for development hence the move back to taller buildings, at least in certain parts.

Bristol does have quite a number 'high-rises' but namely from the post-war era, including a large number of council tower blocks. The taller stuff also seems to be mixed in with everything else and not as clustered together like in Cardiff. Also lots more 'taller' mid-density stuff dotted around too.

The damage from the post-war period means the city will never be that keen on embracing high-rises imo. Cardiff isn't quite as restricted in terms of historic bits that need protecting, and like others have said there's only so much land available to develop, so it makes sense to make the most of the available footprint.

Yes, on average, Bristol city centre is much taller than Cardiff - on average. Plus, the comment from URBANO stating that Bristol has turned its back on taller buildings is false as you have clearly stated. However, im not completely sure where the city stands in terms of tall buildings following their vote to lift the height cap. I've only heard of one 80m+ tower approved, which is currently under construction.

How can one say Bristol has turned its back on tall buildings and in the same breath refer to a height cap?