On a stroll down Edinburgh’s Royal Mile/High Street, visitors can see some of the world’s first skyscrapers. That part of the capital’s Old Town was once encircled with a stone wall, which meant that the only way to increase housing capacity for a growing population was to build up. But this construction occurred at a time when there were no building codes, and little thought given to sanitation or, for that matter, the enjoyment of the inhabitants. During the middle of the 18th century, city officials decided to create a…
