Short answers, pulled from the story.
The Tower block in Shibam is a cluster of five hundred mud-brick towers reaching up to sixteen stories high that rose from the desert sands in the 16th century. These structures are known as the tallest mud buildings in the world and earned the city the nickname Manhattan of the desert.
The modern engineering definition of a high-rise building emerged in the late 19th century due to the limitations of firefighting equipment. Magirus introduced the first cogwheel sliding ladder in 1864, followed by the first turntable ladder drawn by horses in 1892, which reached a length of 25 meters.
The Streets in the Sky concept failed because the walkways were not thoroughfares and often came to dead ends multiple storeys above the ground. Lacking a regular flow of passers-by, the stairwells and walkways became invisible to the outside world, creating an environment where crime and disorder could flourish without the eyes on the street advocated by Jane Jacobs.
Tower blocks known as Khrushchyovka were constructed in great numbers in the USSR and its satellite states mostly during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s to produce cheap accommodation. Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, many former Eastern Bloc countries have begun construction of new, more expensive and modern housing, while others have begun to renovate the previously grey exteriors with new coats of paint or thorough modernization.
The collapse of Ronan Point occurred in 1968 and marked a turning point that led to a period of controversy and demolition for many examples of Tower blocks. The Grenfell Tower fire in 2017 further made Tower blocks less desirable to British residents, partly caused by council ignorance despite complaints from a local action group about fire hazards years before the incident.
Currently, the tallest residential building in the world is Central Park Tower located in Midtown Manhattan, having a height of 1,550 feet with the highest occupied floor at 1,434 feet. This structure, situated on Billionaires' Row, represents the pinnacle of modern residential high-rise design and towers over the city skyline.