Urban development is under a microscope ? as it should be. We are starting to learn, among other things, from the mistakes that the car-crazy plans have created including mindless urban sprawl, one-dimensional and boring sleeping communities, dead downtowns and cookie-cutter shopping malls.  

Our vote goes for projects where previously industrial areas and structures are re-claimed for citizens? use, where green space is given a serious priority and where all available space is used intelligently for the benefit of the people who actually make cities come alive. 
We are including in this smart use of urban space any kind of intelligent use of rooftops as well. Rooftop gardens, community spaces, restaurants and anything on rooftops that creates another dimension for city living without adding another new building or structure, is what we are cheering for.
Although small in scope and private in use, the Skyscape house by WARchitect in Bangkok is a great example of a smart rooftop development.
The house is located on top of a five-storey apartment building in the Lat Phrao district of  Bangkok in a densely populated mixed neighbourhood of apartment buildings, offices and small restaurants.

The owner of the rooftop house owns the entire apartment building as well and he and his four-member family wanted a temporary private hideaway that they don?t plan on using for entertainment.
Thawin Harnboonseth, the managing director of the Bangkok-based WARch...