Building and Environment 207 (2022) 108493
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An evaluation of the policy and practice of designing and implementing healthy apartment design standards in three Australian cities Sarah Foster a, b, *, Paula Hooper c, Anthony Duckworth c, Julian Bolleter c a
Centre for Urban Research, School of Global Urban and Social Studies, RMIT University, 124 La Trobe Street, Melbourne, VIC, 3000, Australia School of Agriculture & Environment, The University of Western Australia (M707), 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA, 6009, Australia c Australian Urban Design Research Centre AUDRC, School of Design, The University of Western Australia Level 2, 1002, Hay St, Perth, Western, Australia b
A R T I C L E I N F O
A B S T R A C T
Keywords: Apartment buildings Planning policy Design guidelines Residential housing Requirements Benchmarking
Apartment development has proliferated around the world; however concern about design quality has prompted the introduction of comprehensive apartment design policies. Effective implementation of these policies prom ises to improve design outcomes and create apartments conducive to good health. This study benchmarked whether design requirements linked to health and wellbeing from three Australian states, each with different levels of design governance, were being implemented. Residential apartment buildings (built 2006–2016) were sampled from Sydney, Perth and Melbourne. Data were extracted from plans and elevations to calculate the implementation of quantifiable policy-specific requirements (n = 122) for all residential apartments (n = 10,553) and floors (n = 1094) within the buildings (n = 172). Scores were computed for design objectives (e.g., indoor and private open space, daylight, natural ventilation, acoustic privacy, visual privacy) and overall policy implementation. Sydney and Perth buildings implemented 60% and 55% of all the measured requirements, respectively, whereas Melbourne implemented 43% (p = 0.000). At the time the buildings were developed, Sydney had a comprehensive performance-based design policy and Perth had some prescriptive design standards, whereas Melbourne had discretionary design guidance only. While local contextual factors also contributed to on-ground design outcomes, the findings underscored the importance of design regulation in delivering contemporary apartment buildings that include the design features that could promote residents’ health.
1. Introduction
little collective tradition of higher density living in Australia’ [4]. Yet Australia’s predominantly urban population is projected to almost double by 2050 [5] with its four largest cities - Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth - expected to absorb almost 10 million new residents. To sustainably accommodate this growing population, strategic plan ning policies support a shift from traditional low density detached housing to more compact urban development with a focus on apartment housing. Over the past decade, all major Australian cities have experi enced a surge in apartment development [6], with the number of apartments being constructed tripling each year since 2009 [7]. Approximately 10% of Australians now live in apartments [8] and while this remains substantially lower than other countries [9], it signifies an important change to the provision of housing and cultural norms. The construction and design of apartments are subject to intense debate within Australia and internationally, including concerns about
More than half of the world’s population live in cities, and this is expected to increase to 60% by 2030 [1]. Housing this growing popu lation presents a considerable global challenge. The New Urban Agenda calls for a rethink of the way cities are built, managed, and governed, including the policies that contribute to ‘adequate, affordable, acces sible, resource efficient, safe, resilient, well-connected and well-located housing’ [2]. Urban consolidation and increased residential densities are key planning interventions that contribute to the creation of healthy and sustainable cities; and these are largely met through the provision of multi-unit housing within close proximity of shops, services, and transport [3]. Australia’s cities have exceptionally low densities by international standards, and unlike cities in Europe, North America and Asia ‘there is
* Corresponding author. Centre for Urban Research, School of Global Urban and Social Studies, RMIT University, 124 La Trobe Street, Melbourne, VIC, 3000, Australia. E-mail addresses: sarah.foster@rmit.edu.au (S. Foster), paula.hooper@uwa.edu.au (P. Hooper), Anthony.duckworth@uwa.edu.au (A. Duckworth), julian. bolleter@uwa.edu.au (J. Bolleter). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2021.108493 Received 9 August 2021; Received in revised form 3 October 2021; Accepted 24 October 2021 Available online 27 October 2021 0360-1323/© 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.