CityFuture: Current project
The Demand for Higher Density Housing in Sydney and Melbourne
Project Theme: High Density Housing
Funded by: Australian Research Council (ARC)
Commencing: January 2007
Estimated Completion: December 2008
Project Leader: Professor Bill Randolph, b.randolph@unsw.edu.au
Description:
Urban consolidation, or the building of residential dwellings at higher densities than the current housing stock (e.g. flats and units) is an urban growth management policy in most capital cities in Australia . In all of these cities, future residential development is based upon an increasing number of these higher density dwellings being built in the existing urban fabric. Proponents or urban consolidation policies contend that there are economic, social and environmental benefits to be gained from building out cities at much higher densities than currently exist. On the other hand, there is also a body of researchers who claim that the perceived benefits of urban consolidation policy are based on assumptions and that little evidence exists to support these proposed benefits. This project aims to increase our knowledge of the impacts of urban consolidation policy by analyzing some of the social, behavioural and transport assumptions that lay behind this policy in Sydney and Melbourne. In particular, this project aims to examine whether some of the perceived benefits of urban consolidation are experienced by individuals who live in such dwellings.
RESEARCH IN PROGRESS
Research Working Papers available to download:
Governing the Compact City: The Challenges of Apartment Living in Sydney
ARC Project DP0773388 The Demand for Higher Density Housing in Sydney and Melbourne
Working Paper 2
H. Easthope and B. Randolph, September 2008
At the Grassroots of Urban Consolidation
ARC Project DP0773388 The Demand for Higher Density Housing in Sydney and Melbourne Working Paper 1
City Futures Research Centre, September 2008
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