Very sharp paper here - while 3% of Chicago's skyscrapers are by "trophy architects", they design 25% of London's skyscrapers. Trophy architects are used to "dazzle" our arbitrary planning system to get it to grant permissions it wouldn't normally hand out https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/2020/10/27/the-use-of-designer-reputation-to-build-tall-in-london/
The use of designer reputation to build tall in London

The Planning for the Future white paper tackles one costly feature of the British planning system: its peculiar reliance on case by case, essentially political, decision making for all significant …

https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/2020/10/27/the-use-of-designer-reputation-to-build-tall-in-london/
Trophy architects charge whopping fees, and their complicated designs increase building costs by 15%. But they on average ensure that the planning system will graciously grant you an extra 14 floors on any given plot of land you own in London.
This is a huge economic cost - that trophy architects boost the value of the average site in London by 152% reflects the colossal damage caused to the UK economy by the rationing of development by the planning system and the uncertainty baked into its institutional design.
cc @MarketUrbanism
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