Skyscraper cemeteries

In places where land is scarce, or to provide more affordable interment options, building up is a popular alternative for burial grounds. Vertical cemeteries and their taller cousins, "skyscraper" cemeteries, are already a significant and growing trend in burial practices across the globe. The 32-storyMemorial Necropole Ecumenicais currently the tallest in the world, though projects are underway and in development in bothIndia and Israel.Beijinghas a goal of reducing the total land area for public cemeteries to 70 percent of its current boundaries by 2035 to balance land use needs for the living and the deceased. COVID-19 was a wake-up call for municipalities to rethink burials in the wake of looming health and environmental crises, with many acknowledging a need to rethink traditional burial methods. This is another indication that zoning, especially traditional zoning in the United States, must become more flexible to adapt to growing resource scarcity issues.