网帖翻译

Video narrated by Fred Mills.
TRAVEL over to a bustling city in Asia and you’ll notice that many of them have something in common: They. build. big.
Massive skyscrapers tower over city centres – largely a product of economic growth and the demand for space in the congested areas.
Then there’s India. The country is home to some of the most highly populated cities in the world and has the second highest GDP on the continent after China.
But its buildings don’t really reflect these numbers. It has some skyscrapers, but they’re mostly in Mumbai – there are fewer and they’re shorter on average as compared to neighbouring Asian cities.

去亚洲一个繁华的城市旅行，你会发现它们中的许多城市都有一个共同点：它们·建设规模·大。
巨大的摩天大楼耸立在市中心，这主要是由于经济的增长和拥挤地区对空间的需求的产物。
现在来说印度。该国是世界上一些人口最多的城市的所在地，其国内生产总值仅次于中国，在这片大陆上位居第二。
但它的建筑并没有真正反映这些数字。它有一些摩天大楼，但它们大多在孟买——与邻近的亚洲城市相比，那里的摩天大楼更少，而且平均高度更矮。

This city sits on a peninsula where land is both scarce and expensive. Normally such constraints force developers to build upwards – think New York or Hong Kong. And yet, Mumbai is still far behind the skyscraper game.
So if India’s population and wealth are so high, why does it build so low?
Well, it all has to do with a little known rule holding the country back from going big and managing density.
This is how politics, infrastructure, and money are stunting India’s skyline.

这座城市位于一个土地稀缺且昂贵的半岛上。通常，这种限制会迫使开发商向上发展——就像纽约或香港。然而，孟买在摩天大楼游戏中仍然远远落后。
那么，如果印度的人口和财富如此之多，为什么它的建筑却如此之低？
好吧，这一切都与一条鲜为人知的规则有关，正是这条规则阻碍着国家的发展壮大和管理着密度。
这就是政治、基础设施和资金阻碍印度天际线发展的原因。

Above: The few skyscrapers in a business park in Bangalore, India.
To many of us, skyscrapers are symbols of things like wealth, power, and growth – and they tend to rise in places where there’s high demand for space.
China has constructed nearly 1,100 skyscrapers over 200 metres tall. It’s followed by South Korea with 86, Malaysia with 61, and Indonesia with 48. But India has just 24 and only a couple buildings even close to 300 metres under construction.
That’s a very unusual difference considering its population of 1.4 billion people and overall wealth.

上图：印度班加罗尔一座商业园区内为数不多的摩天大楼。
对我们许多人来说，摩天大楼是财富、权力和增长等事物的象征——它们往往建在空间需求量大的地方。
中国已经建造了近1100座200米高的摩天大楼。紧随其后的是韩国的86座，马来西亚的61座，印度尼西亚的48座。但印度只有24座，而且只有几座接近 300 米的建筑在建。
考虑到14亿人口和整体财富，这是一个非常不寻常的差异。

Instead, the country tends to build outwards and historically there are few reasons for that. One is infrastructure.
With such a large population, India experiences frequent power outages – especially during the hotter months when demand for electricity is high, and many of its cities often grapple with access to clean water.
Now, the availability of power and water are important for skyscrapers. High rises consume more than low-rise buildings so it’s essential that the surrounding infrastructure can support them.

相反，这个国家倾向于向外发展，从历史上看，这样做的原因很少。一个是基础设施。
由于人口众多，印度经常停电——尤其是在电力需求旺盛的炎热月份，而且印度的许多城市经常难以获得清洁的水源。
现在，电力和水的供应对于摩天大楼来说非常重要。由于高层建筑比低层建筑消耗更多，因此周围的基础设施能够为其提供支持至关重要。

That’s part of the explanation, but really there’s an even bigger culprit behind the country’s short skyline: a building code mandated by the government that’s been in place for decades.
It’s known as the floor space index or floor area ratio.
The FSI is the ratio between the total amount of floor space a developer can construct to the plot of land that floor space is being built on. It determines the total area that’s allowed to be built across all floors.

这是解释的一部分，但事实上，在这个国家低矮的天际线背后还有一个更大的罪魁祸首：政府颁布的已经实施了几十年的建筑规范。
它被称为建筑面积指数或建筑面积比。
建筑面积指数（FSI）是开发商可以建造的总建筑面积与正在建造的建筑面积之比，它决定了所有楼层允许建造的总面积。

Shirish Patel, a civil engineer, explained what this means with a little bit of maths.
"So if you have a plot of one hectare and an FSI of one, let us say then you can build one hectare of floor space, which would be if your footprint is halfway there, you can build ground in one upper. Half a hectare on the ground floor, half acre on the first floor. That makes one hectare, which is a great area multiplied by the efforts."
The lower the FSI number, the lower a building’s volume and floor space can be. According to urban planners, this tool should be used in a way that does not create scarcity of land.
It can help to reduce land cost per unit in areas where the price of land is expensive or limited.

土木工程师Shirish Patel用一点数学解释了这意味着什么。
“所以，如果你有一公顷土地，建筑面积指数（FSI）就是一公顷，那么我们可以说，你可以建造一公顷的占地面积。如果你占用了一半，你可以建两层，一楼半公顷，二楼半公顷，加起来就是一公顷，这是一个巨大的面积。”
FSI数字越低，建筑物的体积和占地面积就越低。根据城市规划者的说法，这一工具的使用方式应该不应造成土地稀缺。
它可以帮助降低土地价格昂贵或土地有限的地区的单位土地成本。
原创翻译：龙腾网 https://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处

Now several cities have these building codes for height restrictions in place – but India’s are stricter than most countries with similar profiles.
Take a look at Mumbai.
Above: Compared to other similar cities, Mumbai has shorter and fewer skyscrapers.
In 1991, in an attempt to limit new construction and keep migrants out, Mumbai introduced an FSI of just 1.3.

现在，一些城市已经制定了这些高度限制的建筑规范，但印度的建筑规范比大多数具有类似情况的国家更严格。
看看孟买。
上图：与其他类似城市相比，孟买的摩天大楼更矮、更少。
1991年，为了限制新建筑并将移民拒之门外，孟买引入了仅为 1.3 的建筑面积指数（FSI）。

To give you a bit of context on just how low that number is in New York, Manhattan has an average FSI of 15 and India’s nearby Asian cities are just as high or even higher. Hong Kong’s FSI is up to 12, Tokyo’s is 20, and Singapore's is a staggering 25.
Horizontal growth in Mumbai is limited due to its geographical location on an island, but the low FSI limits it even further.
It wasn’t until 2022 that Mumbai loosened restrictions. But only slightly. Now the FSI ranges between 2.5 and 5 depending on the exact location. Other cities across India have similar or even lower numbers.

让你了解一下这个数字在纽约有多低，曼哈顿的平均建筑面积指数（FSI）为15，而印度附近的亚洲城市也同样高，甚至更高。香港的建筑面积指数（FSI）高达12，东京为20，新加坡则达到了惊人的25。
由于孟买的地理位置在一个岛屿上，其横向发展受到限制，但低建筑面积指数（FSI）进一步限制了它。
直到2022年，孟买才放松了限制，但只放松了一点点。现在，孟买的建筑面积指数（FSI）的范围在2.5和5之间，这取决于具体的位置。印度各地的其他城市也有类似甚至更低的数字。

The country cites ‘health and safety considerations’ for these restrictions. It’s also an attempt to reduce the number of people living in one area and control the scale of development.
But according to urban planners, a stricter FSI doesn’t really solve those issues.
"The biggest misconception about density planning is higher FSI equals higher population density, which is not true." said Vani Herlekar, an urban planner. "You can have very tall buildings with one nice floor, one flat apartment by floor and only so many people living. And you will have a rising tide of even which are completely low lying slums. But the population density is super high."
The outcome of these notions has a big impact on the country – and it goes far beyond the lack of some impressive skyscrapers.

该国引用了这些限制的“健康和安全考虑”，这也是减少生活在一个地区的人口数量和控制发展规模的一种尝试。
但根据城市规划者的说法，更严格的建筑面积指数（FSI）并不能真正解决这些问题。
“关于密度规划的最大误解是建筑面积指数（FSI）越高，人口密度越高，这是不正确的。”城市规划师瓦尼·赫莱卡（Vani Herlekar）说。“你可以有非常高的建筑，比如一层一层的公寓，但只住一些人。也可以有越来越多的贫民窟，完全是低矮的贫民窟，但人口密度非常高。”
这些理念的结果对这个国家产生了巨大的影响——这远远超出了缺少一些令人印象深刻的摩天大楼的范围。

"The one biggest consequence is affordability. If you don't add some space where people want to live, then the limited floor space becomes super expensive," said Herlekar.
Above: Mumbai's strict FSI regulations create horizontal growth.
With so many job opportunities in places like Mumbai and Bangalore – people have been flocking to these city centres. But with lower FSIs and higher populations, developers can’t keep up.
"If you don't accommodate people in more compact footprint closer to the city center, but people want to be in cities. work, in cities you want spread outwards. So you will spread horizontally. You will have to construct more roads leading out, which means more emissions, which means more people coming in," said Herlekar.
Urban planners say increasing FSI would be a good first step to relieving overcrowding and lowering housing prices.
But it would also have to be accompanied by investments in mass transportation, roads, and other vital infrastructure networks.

赫莱卡说：“一个最大的后果是负担得起。如果你不在人们想要生活的地方增加一些空间，那么有限的占地面积就会变得非常昂贵”。
上图：孟买严格的建筑面积指数（FSI）法规创造了横向增长。
由于孟买和班加罗尔等地有如此多的工作机会，人们纷纷涌向这些城市中心。但随着建筑面积指数（FSI）的降低和人口的增加，开发人员无法跟上。
Herlekar说：“如果你不让人们居住在离市中心更近的地方，那么城市就会向外扩散。你必须修建更多的道路，这意味着更多的排放，意味着更多人进入”。
城市规划者表示，增加建筑面积指数（FSI）将是缓解过度拥挤和降低房价的良好第一步。
但这也必须伴随着对大众运输、道路和其他重要基础设施网络的投资。

But while loosened FSI restrictions and more skyscrapers could help address some of India’s urban challenges, the general population might not be on board with the idea just yet.
"People do have a negative connotation of skyscrapers and density. " stated Herlekar. "Because the one or two buildings that come up, which are high density they come up in an area with poor infrastructure, no green spaces."
Though it’s just a small increase, the recent change in Mumbai’s FSI could indicate a taller future for the city’s skyline and better managed population density. Development has rapidly increased in just the last few years.

尽管放松对建筑面积指数（FSI）限制和建造更多摩天大楼可能有助于解决印度的一些城市挑战，但普通民众可能还不能接受这个想法。
赫莱卡表示：“人们对摩天大楼和密度确实有负面的印象”。“因为一两座高密度建筑物会突然出现在基础设施薄弱、没有绿地的地区。”
尽管这只是一个小的增长，但孟买建筑面积指数（FSI）最近的变化可能预示着城市天际线的未来会更高，人口密度也会得到更好的管理。仅仅在过去几年中，发展迅速增长。

In 2022 alone, 31 skyscrapers are expected to be completed in India – 27 of them in Mumbai, reaching heights of around 200 metres and mostly offering residential space.
"I think if we continue to have these debates and if we embrace higher density taller living, I think it can enrich quality of life in cities like Mumbai, especially. More cities will start building, the technology will become cheaper. Construction costs would also align," stated Herlekar.
India’s population growth – especially in its major cities –- isn’t slowing down anytime soon, and real estate costs will continue to rise as space dwindles.
But if the country builds further into the sky, and invests more in its infrastructure, then its urban housing crisis could start to ease – and Mumbai could have a brand new skyline.

仅在2022年，预计印度就有31座高度约200米的摩天大楼完工，其中27座位于孟买，大部分用于提供住宅空间。
赫莱卡表示：“我认为，如果我们继续进行这些辩论，如果我们接受更高密度、更高的生活，我认为这可以提高孟买等城市的生活质量，尤其是更多的城市将开始建设，技术将变得更便宜，建筑成本也将保持一致。”。
印度的人口增长——尤其是在主要城市——不会很快放缓，随着空间的缩小，房地产成本将继续上升。
但是，如果该国进一步向天空建设，并对基础设施进行更多投资，那么其城市的住房危机可能会开始缓解——孟买可能会有一个全新的天际线。