Well, if Ken Livingston has his way, that's what London will look like very soon. He loves tall buildings.
At the moment he has the power of veto over buildings, but has not the ability to grant them planning permission. That's still in the hands of the various planning authorities - which is why his ol' mate Prescott so frequently has to call in decisions and even overturn them following a public inquiry, in order that Mayor L's dreams of skycrapers all over the capital can be realised.
A Construction Industry magazine had this to say about Mr L.:
London love-in
It felt part-political rally, part love-in on the London Stand (Mipim 2006, Cannes).
A huge audience of property big noises followed London mayor Ken Livingstone on his speaking engagements in Cannes. And when he spoke they cheered as if it was the second coming.
"The balance of power in London is shifting in favour of development - local authorities will no longer stand in the way" said Ken.
Cue huge applause
"Local planners want low density and low rise - I want to give you the opposite," he continued.
More applause.
It's obviously healthy to see a politician apparently enjoying such a strong relationship with the business community, but Backbites can't help wondering: is this really the same Ken Livingstone that used to be a communist?
I expect the relative humidityin Dubai is usually pretty low - which leads to the thought that the RH in Venice may be lower than we often experience in the UK - which leads to the thought that rising damp (real or imagined) isn't the issue, it's the surface of the wall is acually wet enough to support the growth of moulds. The capilliarity of the masonry is just one factor along with absolute humidity, relative humidity, ventilation, temperature of wall surface, temperature profile across the wall etc.
Both Venice and Dubai will be in trouble when sea level rises though.