In a globalized world today, more and more people are heading towards nearby cities and urban centers. Economic evolutions are running at full pace. We see the USA to the west, and Asian countries being China, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, India and others to the east. One common thing you will find among all these places. That is that these places have huge skyscrapers. Spanning across hundreds of floors up into the sky. Major cities in China or the USA. But did you notice one thing though? When you go to Europe, instead of America or Asia, do you see skyscrapers?
Either you see very few of them, or in certain cities you don't see any skyscrapers at all. Big metropolitan cities like London, Brussels are some of the European cities who have a good amount of skyscrapers. But the rest? Few. And there is a very ethical reason behind it.
Let's go first with the most obvious cause ever. We know very well that Asia is literally the most populated continent in the world. Especially in the Indian subcontinent, the chinese areas, japan and other places near those. To accomodate all these people, we need more houses. Now people are increasing, but land isn't. Only way forward is up. Building multi storied buildings for housings isn't the most uncommon nor irrational in that part of the world. Same with the Americas too. Yes they're not so densely populated but most of that population tend to live in or near the big cities of their states. Mostly because American cities are so much advanced. So to accomodate those people, and to accomodate all the hundreds of thousands of businesses, they need skyscrapers.
Now Europe isn't that much populated nor the population is so centered towards cities. And also, historically, Europeans have always cared for convenience and comfort over cutting edge facilities and trend. One of the main reasons for European cities not building skyscrapers is basically the people of those places don't like them. They are labeled to be too bland, lifeless. And it kicks in the 'competition' stereotype among them. Whereas their traditional buildings bear more importance, color, culture and identity. Which I must say, is true. So picturesque and beautiful these cities are. And these houses are easier to live in. They use this logic everywhere that's why Europe isn't so leaned on cutting edge technology either. They want a better experience.
People of Europe tend to differentiate themselves from the USA or China by not building skyscrapers by saying they are not so rushed by them. That they can make do with what they have and they'd like to hold up their tradition than to give in the to the grasp of the concrete labyrinth. Plus Europe has been war torn twice. In those wars they have lost valuable infrastructure of their own. So whenever they got the money to furnish their infrastructure, they opted to rebuild what they lost instead of moving forward with more 'up to date' infrastructure. This is all to the public sentiment. European people take great pride in holding onto their roots and culture. A trait that is less widely available among people from other places. Many battles during the world wars remind us of those European ethics. The battle of Verdun, Ypres, Stalingrad are such examples.
Now it doesn't mean Europe won't ever build skyscrapers. In fact skyscraper buildings are speeding up in production. Mostly to keep up with the ever so fast evolving world and the growing population, worldwide.