Moderately dense development - good High rise developments enclosed in glass - bad Plants on the skyscraper terraces - sheer stupidity and bullshit, used only for pretty marketing 3D art If they made those high rises a 5-6 floor buildings instead, with no b/s trees on the balconies but instead planted them in the ground, that would be much more boring, cheaper and much more comfortable to live there.
What's wrong with plants on the terraces and balconies? How would their presence make it less comfortable to live there? And high rise developments "enclosed in glass"? As the article mentions, that's sort of what Vancouver is known for. Is it the material you object to or the building height? I genuinely don't understand your comment. Particularly as a Vancouverite (who can't afford a home).
Disclaimer - these play pretend forests are NOT bad per se (the plant part at least). They are just hilariously inefficient way to spend money and space.
The issues I see with them:
1. This additional horizontal space costs money. The plants cost money. The maintenance of the whole thing costs even more money.
2. There needs to be access to them from the apartments (violating privacy), or they are only accessed from the outside, multiplying maintenance costs.
3. What if the plant dies? Who pays for replacement?
4. Unless these islands of plants are hermetically sealed from the apartments, who will pay and deal with water leaks from the plants to the inside of the building, who will deal with mold, insects and so on?
5. What if the wind blows the heavy plant or tree down on something or someone?
6. The space usage is very bad, it's like tens of trees per whole building. A small park beside the building can beat that number by 100 times.
Vertical forests is a case of looks nice on the 3D render, but in practice is a waste of money plus unsafe.
And skyscrapers are simply bad for individual living. Price, infrastructure, related issues. My home city has an issue with chaotic development and there are several parts of the city with 25+ floor housing. Those are cheap, but the are mercilessly mocked by the whole city and no one voluntarily wants to live there if they have a choice and money. Also those are places with the worst traffic jams and parking issues in the whole city, except for the inner center.
PS: I very much like plant in my apartment, small and big. I've lived for years with half of my own room taken by a potted coffee tree growing into the ceiling, so I'm not some plant hater or something.