Editing Tower block (section)

=====Great Britain=====
{{main|Tower blocks in Great Britain}}
[[File:Argylebuilding.jpg|thumb|[[Argyle Building, Glasgow|Argyle Building]] in [[Glasgow]]]]

Tower blocks were first built in the United Kingdom after the [[World War II|Second World War]], and were seen as a cheap way to replace 19th-century urban slums and war-damaged buildings. They were originally seen as desirable, but quickly fell out of favour as tower blocks attracted rising crime and social disorder, particularly after the collapse of [[Ronan Point]] in 1968.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/history/heritage/ronan-point |title=Ronan Point |work=The Open University |access-date=29 October 2015}}</ref>

Although Tower blocks are controversial and numerous examples have been demolished, many still remain in large cities. Due to lack of proper regulation, some tower blocks present a significant fire risk and even though there have been efforts to make them more safe,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.pbctoday.co.uk/news/building-control-news/unsafe-cladding-removal-works-still-incomplete-on-over-300-high-rise-buildings-in-manchester-and-london/115651/ | title=Unsafe cladding removal works still incomplete on over 300 high-rise buildings in Manchester and London | date=16 September 2022 }}</ref> modern safety precautions can be prohibitively expensive to retrofit. The [[Grenfell Tower fire|Grenfell Tower]] fire in 2017 was partly caused by council ignorance, as a local action group complained to the council about the fire hazards of the tower several years before the incident, yet remedial work had not been carried out.<ref name="guardiansafety">{{cite news|last1=Wahlquist|first1=Calla|title=Fire safety concerns raised by Grenfell Tower residents in 2012|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jun/14/fire-safety-concerns-raised-by-grenfell-tower-residents-in-2012|access-date=14 June 2017|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=14 June 2017}}</ref> This fire further made tower blocks less desirable to British residents.

There are old high-rise buildings built in the 1960s and 1970s in areas of [[London]] such as [[London Borough of Tower Hamlets|Tower Hamlets]], [[London Borough of Newham|Newham]], [[Hackney, London|Hackney]], and virtually any area in London with [[Council house|council housing]]. Some new high-rises are being built in areas such as [[Central London]], [[Southwark]], and [[Nine Elms]]. In east London, some old high-rises are being gentrified, in addition to new high-rises being built in areas such as [[Stratford, London|Stratford]] and [[Canary Wharf]].{{citation needed|date=May 2023}}