Height restriction laws are laws that restrict the maximum height of structures. There are a variety of reasons for these measures. Some restrictions serve aesthetic values, such as blending in with other housing and not obscuring important landmarks. Other restrictions may serve a practical purpose, such as height restrictions around airports for flight safety. Height restriction laws for housing have become a source of contention by restricting housing supply, increasing housing costs, and depressing land values.
Asia
China
New building regulations that came in force in 2020, limited the height of buildings on cities depending on population in China. Cities with less than 3 million population cannot have structures rising above 250 m (820 ft); cities with populations greater than 3 million can have buildings up to a height of 500 m (1,600 ft). Buildings are capped at 400 m (1,300 ft) on the Shenzhen Bay area due to its proximity to Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport. A similar height restriction also applies in Wuhan, with buildings limited to 476 m (1,562 ft) on its central areas due to runway approaches paths to Wuhan Tianhe International Airport crossing it.
Malaysia Buildings in the Petaling Jaya suburb of Kelana Jaya were previously capped at 15 floors (around 50–60 m (160–200 ft) in height) because of the close proximity to Subang International Airport, less than 5 km (3.1 mi) away. The height restriction was lifted in 1998 when commercial jet operations were relocated to the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang, and this saw higher buildings being erected, notably the 33-floor Ascent and New World Hotel towers at Paradigm Mall (the tallest in the area today, with heights of around 150 m (490 ft)).
Middle East Israel and Jordan inherited laws from the days of the British Mandate that prevent buildings from rising more than four stories above the ground except by special government permission. In Amman, these regulations have been credited with maintaining the city's architectural and urban heritage, but have also been accused of inflating housing prices and causing unsustainable urban sprawl.
Myanmar Most of the tallest buildings are located in Yangon where zoning regulations restrict the maximum height of buildings to 127 m (417 ft) above sea level, in order to prevent buildings from overtaking the Shwedagon Pagoda. The first ever attempt to build a skyscraper in the country—a 195 m (640 ft) tower in downtown Yangon faced intense opposition by local conservationists and was cancelled in 2014.
Philippines A structural height restriction applies to buildings within Intramuros, Manila, where most structures cannot be higher than 30 m (98 ft) from street level, and towers cannot exceed 35 m (115 ft). Davao City's zoning ordinance as of 2019 imposes a height restriction on buildings in its central area due to its proximity to Francisco Bangoy International Airport, with buildings not allowed to exceed 100 m (330 ft) above mean sea level.
Hong Kong To protect the ridge line along Hong Kong Island and in Kowloon, height restrictions are imposed according to the location of the buildings or structures. Prior to the 1998 closure of the Kai Tak Airport, many places in Kowloon had a stricter building height restriction due to its proximity to the airport.
Indonesia In Bali, Indonesia, a building cannot be taller than a coconut tree, which is about 15 m (49 ft). The only building that is higher than a coconut tree is the Bali Beach Hotel because the hotel was built before the height restriction was announced. The restriction was enforced by a regional regulation, however, how much this is enforced is in question.
Singapore Buildings in Raffles Place, Marina Centre, Marina Bay Sands, Bugis and Kallang have height restrictions of up to 280 m (920 ft) because of the proximity of Paya Lebar Air Base until 2030 as planned.
Europe In Europe, there is no official general law restricting the height of structures. There are however height restriction laws in many cities, often aimed to protect historic skylines. In Athens, buildings are not allowed to surpass twelve floors so as not to block views of the Parthenon. There are several exceptions though, such as the Athens Tower, the Atrina center and the OTE central building which all exceed that level. This is due to them either being built far away from the centre, or to the fact that they were constructed during periods of political instability. The city's tallest structure is the Athens Tower, reaching 103 m (338 ft) and comprising 25 floors. In the central area of Rome, delimited by the Aurelian Walls, no building can exceed the height of the dome of St. Peter's Basilica (136 m (446 ft)). A skyscraper called Torre Eurosky (Eurosky Tower), built in 2012 in EUR neighbourhood (outside the ban area) exceeds this limit being 155 m (509 ft) high. There is however a height restriction for new onshore wind turbines in the European Union, which set their total height to 200 m (660 ft). Many cities have or in the past had an unwritten rule that no building was to be higher than either city hall, the highest church steeple or some other important historic landmark. Sometimes this rule was even enshrined in law or political convention.
North America
Canada Canada has no national height restrictions, but many individual cities do have height restriction bylaws and building is restricted by the national aviation authority (Transport Canada) near airports. Some examples:
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