When density is more than just ‘more’.
We, like many others, are eagerly awaiting the masterplanning studies for the transit-oriented development precincts designated by NSW Government.
It’s bold and polarising, but reflects a significant shift in thinking towards density, efficiency and action. And alongside this stark increase in capacity, the upcoming low- to mid-rise housing pattern book promises high design quality for new housing and faster approval pathways.
But just like density and design alone don’t make good housing (see affordability, autonomy, occupancy), access to transport doesn’t guarantee liveable neighbourhoods. The provision of vital public infrastructure is written into planning through ratios that ensure communities’ basic needs are met: population:parks, population:schools, population:childcare, population:libraries... But these ratio-led needs assessments lack an important contributor to liveability: a sense of belonging.
Research for Infrastructure Australia found that art, culture and recreation facilities hold more weight when choosing where to live than access to transport, health, aged care or education facilities (1).
So, while others wait on the edges of their seats for updated development controls around Sydney’s transport nodes – to see just how dense these TODs will get – we at Left Bank Co. are waiting to see how the plans will approach the quality of the neighbourhoods-cum-urban centres. Will councils be expected (and if so, supported) to keep up provision of community infrastructure with the incoming boost in housing supply? Or will it be left up to the developers of these new densities, willing or otherwise? And what about the amenity that sits outside of mandated community infrastructure definitions, such as creative and cultural infrastructure?
This amenity can come in the form of unique assets that aren’t necessarily the bread and butter of the housing sector. Community and cultural infrastructure can require different ways of thinking about governance, operation and value to ensure it stacks up in delivery and serves locals with authenticity in the long term.
We believe today’s uncertain retail/commercial market, and its resultant negotiations of non-residential ground-plane uses in new density, will bring these assets front and centre. Some of our recent projects have placed us in the middle of these negotiations. So, for the year or so that we have until the masterplans and pattern books are released, we’ll be asking ourselves (and maybe some of you) a few titillating questions, such as:
What can we learn from other jurisdictions’ public-private partnership strategies for community infrastructure in new/densifying neighbourhoods? Such as those that leverage tax incentives, deliver at smaller scales and disperse amenity to activate ground planes?
How relevant are alternative housing models in the context of State-led, sweeping change to housing policy and provision? Is this a conversation that needs to be revived rather urgently, or has the ship sailed?
Does the residential pattern book need a non-residential chapter?
Whatever your stance on value capture - and the State’s supposed omission of any such strategy in these priority areas for the time being - there’s no denying that real liveability is going to take significant investment in more than just housing. And if you know Left Bank Co., you know we love to look at new ways to do things. We go straight to the source of innovative models – not just for inspiration, but to interrogate what and who has made these models work elsewhere. What not to do just as much as what to do.
We’ll be weaving our findings on the big questions around housing and community/cultural infrastructure into projects and programs we work on throughout the year, as well as industry-wide discussions facilitated through in-depth study tours and our Making Space for Culture Incubation Program.
Keep an eye on our projects page for when we can reveal more about the work we’ve been doing in this space.
1. JWS Research, “Community Perception of Australia’s Infrastructure.” 2018.
