Windows on all sides, and privacy, means a lot of land. Detached houses get their privacy from hedges and trees, but build above 3-4 stories and you no longer have that. The last high rise I lived in (35 years ago) was twin buildings facing each other separated by a 200' courtyard. I don't think you would want to be any closer than that to have the feel of privacy, and certainly that didn't feel as private as a detached house separated by 20' or less from its neighbour. High rises also mean large shadows to block the sun.
Elevators are not cheap (both to build and maintain), and you generally want at least 2 of them in case one is broken or being used for people moving. If you only had one unit per floor, the cost of elevators might be very significant.
Fair points. I think for having high rises you also have to be on certain major roads. The 2-3 floor ones could work in the same way as a side-by-side duplex in a residential area, just stacked.
The idea is to use the lots for more than one family. In the last few decades I saw Greater Vancouver pretty much double in size and estimates say another
1.2 million people by the year 2040!.
Something has to give.
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