This week's acts of terrorism in the USA could hit the development of tall buildings in the UK.
London's spatial development strategy, being put together by the Greater London Authority, advocates the development of clusters of tall buildings in areas such as Paddington and Docklands.

But Tony Arbour, head of the Greater London Authority's planning committee, said the attack on the 110-storey World Trade Center put a question mark over the wisdom of this policy.

He said: "If I was a prospective tenant or developer of a tall building, I'd be scared – tall buildings are clearly seen as targets. They're trophy buildings – terrorists won't go for low-rise buildings."

Irvine Sellar, the developer behind plans for Europe's tallest tower at London Bridge, stood firm on his plans. He said: "Anyone who tries to take advantage of this by saying tall towers will be in trouble is wide of the mark. If someone drove a plane at 200 mph into anything it would not survive. Life has to go on – I'm sure lessons will be learned, though."

Tall towers are not in trouble. If someone drove a plane at 200 mph into anything it would not survive. Life has to go on

Irvine Sellar, skyscraper developer

Antony Harbour, UK managing director of architect Gensler, said: "The only way cities are going to survive is by building up; we can't spread out any further."

Ken Shuttleworth, a director at Foster and Partners, said tall towers must continue to be developed or "it would mean terrorists win".

However, the global recession that is now being predicted by economic experts, as US consumer and commercial confidence plunges, may scupper future plans for building skyscrapers in the UK.