But economic and cultural forces mean dense housing is harder to develop than low-rise sprawl.
Articles on Urban density
Displaying 1 - 20 of 54 articles
There are thousands of disused graveyards that could provide crowded cities with essential public green space.
Better urban planning can help stem the loss of birds by protecting and connecting the areas of habitat they need to survive.
Planning for residents’ needs must be done well in advance to ease public fears about new high-density housing projects lacking open space for recreation.
Infill development is patchy across Australian cities, as is its quality. Bigger and better projects are needed to hit planning targets and reduce urban sprawl.
The way we develop urban peripheries is central to tackling both the housing crisis and the climate emergency.
Despite adopting the goal of creating medium-density neighbourhoods to end urban sprawl, our cities have struggled to achieve it. Confused debates about ‘good density’ are part of the problem.
Simply rezoning land for higher density is not enough to achieve the planning goal of transforming low-density and car-centric neighbourhoods into mixed-use and walkable neighbourhoods.
In parts of Sydney, families occupy half the apartments and many value their convenient location. Yet, despite a surge in development, most apartments are one or two bedrooms and not family-friendly.
Spontaneous and often temporary initiatives drove most of the early earthquake recovery in Christchurch, offering examples for many other cities facing hazards and climate risks.
Laneway suites could increase rental stock in established neighbourhoods without affecting their character. Toronto has lagged behind other cities in Canada and North America.
Brisbane City wants to preserve backyards, but they account for much of the open space lost to development under policies that also aim to increase housing density in existing urban areas.
Proposals to improve the capital’s urban design and density must also take account of the city’s unique streetscapes.
Lowering urban density to protect against the coronavirus would be a misguided response. Density is not a key driver of infection, and keeps people active and healthy.
Before the pandemic, the country was making great strides towards creating more compact, sustainable and liveable cities.
The internal density and layout of buildings are key factors in COVID-19 transmission risk. This is not an argument against high-density cities, some of which have successfully contained the virus.
Many are speculating about the pandemic changing how we plan and use our cities. What they overlook is how many people live in unplanned settlements where it’s more likely to be business as usual.
The rise of global cities, metropolises that dominate their states, is exposing Australia’s lack of metropolitan governments. It’s time to restart the evolution of our states after a century on hold.
Only the inner suburbs of Melbourne and other capital cities meet the 20-minute neighbourhood test. But we could transform the other suburbs for much less than the cost of current transport projects.
The neighbourhoods of Paris, Barcelona and Amsterdam with densities 3-5 times those of Melbourne and Sydney offer an insight into how we could transform our cities for the better.
Top contributors
-
Senior Lecturer in Urban Planning and Urban Design, The University of Melbourne
-
Professor of Architecture and Urban Design, The University of Melbourne
-
Professor, City Futures Research Centre, UNSW
-
Adjunct Senior Teaching Fellow in Urban Planning and Design, The University of Western Australia
-
Adjunct Professor, Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies, University of Sydney Business School, University of Sydney
-
Lecturer, Real Estate and Property Development, Griffith University
-
Research associate, The University of Melbourne
-
Senior Lecturer in Urban and Environmental Planning, Griffith University
-
Senior Research Fellow, Healthy Liveable Cities Group, Centre for Urban Research, RMIT University
-
Research assistant, Western Sydney University, UNSW
-
Emeritus Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor, The University of Melbourne
-
Architectural Technologist and Urban Designer, Nottingham Trent University
-
Head of the Department of Architecture, Monash University
-
Professor, Sustainability and Urban Planning, RMIT University
-
Professiorial Fellow, The University of Melbourne