New skyscrapers will change the skyline of Brighton and Hove if developers have their way. The question is, will they?

Embassy Court was the first skyscraper in Brighton and Hove.

Much criticised when it was built for its stark contrast with Brunswick Terrace, it has since been listed as a supreme example of art deco architecture.

The main wave of tower blocks came in the Sixties, along the seafront and in the city centre.

Not one has yet been listed and public opinion in the Seventies meant no more were planned - until now.

Suddenly Brighton and Hove is subject to suggestions for skyscrapers at key sites all over the city.

Plans have already been submitted for a 16-storey block at King's Esplanade in Hove and an 18-storey block on the Endeavour Garage site in Preston Road, Brighton.

Another tall building is planned for North Road in Brighton.

Each of these schemes has attracted considerable opposition from neighbours and conservation societies.

The city council has decided to put them all on hold until it has worked out a policy for tall buildings which, conveniently, will not be until after the local elections.

More significant skyscrapers are being planned for some of the most prestigious sites in the city.

Only last week, proposals for five new blocks at Brighton Marina, some of them higher than the cliffs behind the harbour, were outlined by developers.

The city council is talking about a landmark building on the seafront when the Brighton Centre is redeveloped.

And most controversially of all, there could be high buildings constructed on the site of the King Alfred Leisure Centre in Hove.

More than 400 flats are needed to fund the replacement £30 million leisure centre and the only way to go is up.

Brunswick/Barratts plan a series of buildings designed by Wilkinson Eyre while Karis/ING has employed Frank Gehry, designer of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, to design a series of towers, one of which could be the highest building in the city.

Gehry has been aided by Piers Gough, born in Brunswick Square, who also has a hand in the marina designs and in the tower planned for the Endeavour site.

Some of the Sixties tower blocks were built by Brighton Borough Council in a bid to beat the housing shortage, a concern which remains relevant today.

They started replacing old terraced buildings, which these days would have been gentrified, in Albion Hill and spread like a brick and concrete rash to Edward Street and St James's Street.

Two system-built towers at Hollingdean suffered every fault known to high buildings but somehow survived.

Like many others, Nettleton Court and Dudeney Lodge were named after councillors, as was the tallest council tower block of them all, Theobald House, near Brighton station.

Private firms prospered through tower blocks, notably R Green Properties, which benefited from a benign planning authority in Hove. Many of the ugly blocks on the seafront and just inland were built by this small but successful company.

The tallest tower block of them all, and the only one with a scintilla of architectural merit, is Sussex Heights, next to the Hotel Metropole.

Since the demolition of the old Brighton B power station at Shoreham harbour, it has, at 330ft, become the tallest building in Sussex.

Just as prominent in the skyline because of its more elevated position is Chartwell Court above Churchill Square. It was to have had a twin but fashions changed before it could be built.

It would be hard for most people to name a single architect of a generally undistinguished set of skyscrapers in the Sixties and Seventies.

But that will not be the case if any of the new towers come off the drawing boards and on to the streets. Architects such as Gehry, Gough and Jim Eyre have international reputations.

The standard of architecture is one reason Brighton and Hove may enthusiastically embrace skyscrapers in the future.

Environment councillor Chris Morley, a lover of good architecture, is convinced the city needs landmark developments on the major sites instead of misfit buildings such as King's West and the Brighton Centre.

Another reason is shortage of space. Brighton and Hove, unlike almost any other city in Britain, has almost run out of greenfield sites to build. It is a place where the estate agents' windows are full of old properties.

Yet there is a need for sites to house the sort of companies Brighton and Hove would like to attract to boost the economy and tackle unemployment, which remains stubbornly above the national average.

Developments at the marina and elsewhere have shown luxury flats will sell in Brighton and Hove, often to people from London who find property prices cheap in comparison with those in the capital.

Architect John Small, secretary of the Regency Society, believes it will be hard to find an acceptable tall buildings policy for Brighton and Hove but it is worth the effort.

He likes some London skyscrapers, such as the Trellick Tower in north Kensington and the Knightsbridge Barracks by Sir Basil Spence.

But he is not a fan of Sussex Heights, which he says spoils Regency Square and many views of Brighton.

Mr Small is also unimpressed with the Piers Gough building for the Endeavour site but says there would be a case for a tower much higher than the impressive railway viaduct so the two do not compete with each other.

He also believes there is a case for tall buildings on the King Alfred site, marking the end of the historic seafront of the city.

He said: "Every effort must be made to ensure we have better tall buildings than we did in the Sixties.

"It will not stop bad buildings from being designed but it may be possible to stop them being built."

There will be fierce fights ahead before many, if any, of the current plans for skyscrapers are built.

But if any are allowed, it is certain the designers will be remembered, for good reasons or bad, unlike those anonymous architects who designed the bland and boring towers of the past.