Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the various aspects related to high-rise habitat. Another major function of high-rise habitat in addition to supporting floor loads is to provide protection from the elements—from wind, rain, lightning, and earthquake. Fire and blast are additional design criteria. Because the successful completion of a high-rise project involves so many different disciplines, one finds increasingly that the design work is carried out more by a team (architect, engineer, planner, landscape architect) than by an individual. A systems approach becomes absolutely essential on major projects, the heart of which is interactions. It is these interactions that are so important and that are so often neglected. Beyond the successful completion of a particular tall building is a much larger problem, one that stems from the exploding population. Severe as the impact of a population doubling rate of 35–40 years might be, the rate at which cities are growing creates a greater problem.