Much has been written about the building's importance as a heritage asset for the City of Leeds and the nation. Representing an evolution in the civic growth of Leeds from a market town to a major city, the Town Hall is the legacy of the citizens and leaders of its time who managed to express Leeds's increasing wealth and importance. Its tower, often used as a symbol of Leeds, was described by Colin Cunningham, an academic, as "a remarkably assured and individualistic design which has no obvious precedents", and is the subject of a protected view in local planning policy, ensuring no new tall buildings will block the long-range views of it across the western side of the city centre.