With significant pressure on land values in London, developers are looking to the sky to find new opportunities. As a result we are seeing residential and commercial developments on top of existing buildings.
This example from Jakarta shows what can be achieved and stretches the boundaries to an extreme that many might not have believed possible. You can only imagine the logistical issues faced by a developer building at that height. Then you have to think about the legal issues which include ensuring they don't interfere with the rights of the existing occupiers of the building. These factors will add considerable cost and risk to the project.
As world-leading cities, London and Jakarta might not face all of the same problems but the one thing they have in common is a lack of space. That scarcity of land supply is forcing entrepeneurial developers to look to the sky.
We've been exploring some of the challenges and opportunities in this area in our recent series 'Building Up' which you can read here.
It’s Thursday and the residents of Jakarta’s Cosmo Park are out jogging, watering their plants or walking their dogs along neat asphalt roads. Neighbourhood kids pedal their bikes under frangipani trees and peach-coloured bougainvillea to the pool and tennis court. Apartments, comfortable and modern, sit side by side, with barbecues and toys stacked outside. Quiet and orderly, it feels like any other suburban idyll – but there is one difference. Cosmo Park is a village in the sky, perched 10 storeys up on top of a shopping centre and car park, a world away from the heaving megalopolis below.
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