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Isn't that what the "towers in a park" style of public housing from the 60s and 70s are? From that we've found that it isn't a good solution, eg Cabrini–Green Homes or Robert Taylor Homes

I think people have been looking into these issues for far longer than 1995.

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Speaking as someone who works in this field theres a lot weve learned about towers. Suffice to say dont build them in the middle of nowhere, for the poorest in society only, and with acres of non-defensible space in front.

The best planning in cities today is building transit oriented development at a scale to match your city's housing need. Do it in the right places with a reasonable design and it works great

I don't think the issues that emerged at Cabrini Green and Robert Taylor Homes can be blamed primarily on their design. I suspect the systemic lack of maintenance and overall poor management were far more significant factors. There are thousands of safe, clean, and healthy "towers in the park" public housing projects around the world - from Singapore to Spain. And there are plenty of low-rise and townhome public housing projects in the US that suffer from health and safety problems.

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