Cities 145 (2024) 104596
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Density my way: Community attitudes to neighbourhood densification scenarios Julian Bolleter *, Nicole Edwards , Robert Cameron , Paula Hooper Australian Urban Design Research Centre, University of Western Australia, Australia
A R T I C L E I N F O
A B S T R A C T
Keywords: Transit-oriented development Compact cities Urban densification Community engagement Greenspace-oriented development
Transit Oriented Development (TOD) within existing urban areas often confronts entrenched community resis tance. This paper documents the results of an Australian survey systematically evaluating the level of community support of densification strategies around a central train station in a greyfield suburban setting – based on theories in planning such as TOD (Pedestrian Pockets and Transit Boulevardes), Greenspace-Oriented Develop ment (GOD) and ‘hidden density’ approaches. This paper's original contribution stems from using a hypothetical site which obviates localised issues and interests and allows for a comparatively neutral assessment of different densification approaches. The results are instructive and unanticipated. Support was highest for precinct-scale approaches to densification (TOD and GOD), while antipathy remains towards ‘hidden density,’ dispersed, single-storey background infill. The results also reveal significant and essential differences in support for densification models based on gender, with females more supportive of GOD approaches than conventional TOD. The paper highlights the need for revised policies to deliver alternative urban densification approaches, such as GOD, ensure the liveability of densification along Transit Boulevardes, and impede deeply unpopular ‘hidden density’ or background infill.
1. Introduction
1.1. Theoretical framework
Australian cities are also sprawling rapidly (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2021) and are an extreme case of a global tendency for urban sprawl (Angel, 2012). If detached housing in greenfield development remains the predominant means of housing surging populations (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2021), Australian cities will balloon into what commentators characterise as an unhealthy (Ewing et al., 2014), stratified, environmentally destructive (Ritchie et al., 2021), inefficient, and unproductive form (Kelly & Donegan, 2015). While the need for urban densification is evident, research indicates that resistance to urban infill in suburban neighbourhoods is often endemic, hampering the delivery of infill agendas (Einstein et al., 2019; Goodman, 2017; Kelly & Donegan, 2015; Kwok et al., 2018; Maginn & Foley, 2017; Murphy, 2012; Pegler et al., 2020). In the face of this reportedly dogged resistance, policymakers need an accurate and up-to-date understanding of urban densification models with broad community support.
Policymakers advocate the application of TOD strategies in cities worldwide (Calthorpe, 1993). Indeed, as Ian Carlton (2009, p. 23) tells us, ‘now almost every metropolitan region with major public transport infrastructure has adopted some form of high-density TOD scenario’. Australia's major cities are no exception and have policy frameworks aiming to deliver urban density around mass transit, reflecting the broad-scale adoption of TOD thinking (Department of Planning Trans port and Infrastructure, 2017; Department of Planning, and Western Australian Planning Commission, 2015; Victorian State Government, 2017). This aspirational policy agenda is in stark contrast to the morphology of Australian cities that are some of the lowest density on the planet (Hurley et al., 2017) and comprise vast swathes of lowdensity, suburban development (Dodson, 2010) (Fig. 1). Reflecting this, the 2021 Census of Population and Housing found that only 16 % of private dwellings in Australia were apartments, with the bulk continuing to comprise detached houses (70 %) (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2017; The Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2022). Despite its manifest popularity with policymakers, TOD has faced
* Corresponding author. E-mail address: julian.bolleter@uwa.edu.au (J. Bolleter). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2023.104596 Received 7 June 2023; Received in revised form 23 August 2023; Accepted 22 September 2023 Available online 2 December 2023 0264-2751/© 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).