High Life in the Sky? Mortality Rates in Swiss High-Rises

High-rise housing continues to attract criticism in many countries as an unhealthy and unpleasant habitat that isolates people and attracts crime. Nearly one in six households in Europe are now in high-rise buildings and this number is likely to grow as space becomes more constrained (Guertler & Smith 2006). The authors of this study undertook to analyze the census records of more than one million people in Switzerland in an attempt to draw more definitive conclusions about human health and high-rises. © 2014 Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. All rights reserved.