Gethin Davison

An Unlikely Urban Symbiosis: Urban Intensification and Neighbourhood Character in Collingwood, Vancouver

Urban intensification is a key planning strategy for all major Australian cities, but proposals for higher density buildings in established neighbourhoods are frequently opposed by local residents on the basis that they would be ‘out of character’. In this article, the opportunities for urban intensification to reinforce and enhance the existing character of a place are explored through a case study of a Vancouver neighbourhood where a proposed high-rise project was initially resisted by community members, but has subsequently been embraced by them. It is argued that in this case, through a participatory and debate-centred planning process, urban intensification and neighbourhood character became mutually dependent in an unlikely form of urban symbiosis.

“There's Something about Subi”: Defending and Creating Neighbourhood Character in Perth, Australia

Planning policy in Australian cities currently favours a more compact urban form, but proposals for higher-density development are frequently resisted by residents who argue that the ‘character’ of a place would be damaged or destroyed. This paper explores the factors underlying this resistance and assesses the extent to which character can be designed for. The paper relates a case study of the Perth suburb of Subiaco, where the design of a major redevelopment project was shaped by the form of surrounding areas, but where long-standing residents claim that it is ‘out of character’ nonetheless. Reflecting on the case through theories of place, urban design and ‘affordances’, it is suggested that this rejection of the project owes much to the way that urban designers focused on replicating certain physical features of Subiacos character, while neglecting a host of everyday social and experiential meanings that were of equal significance to residents.

“Keeping Dalston Different”: Defending Place-Identity in East London

Urban intensification is a key planning strategy in the UK, but one that is frequently resisted by local residents objecting to transformations of urban character. This paper is concerned with the factors that underlie such resistance, and with the opportunities for addressing them through the planning process. The paper relates a case-study of the East London district of Dalston where a mixed-use redevelopment project, strongly supported by local authorities, was fiercely resisted by residents who claimed that the existing character of the locality was being violated. Reflecting on the case through theories of place, gentrification, and planning process, we argue that resident resistance was not simply a case of self-interested NIMBYism, but a product of important differences in the ways that character was variously constructed and valued by local authorities and community members.

Envisioning the compact city: resident responses to urban design imagery

Policies for achieving compact cities have long faced resident resistance on the basis that intensified development would be out of character. Yet resident response depends on the role of image and imagination in planning discourse. This paper seeks to test urban design imagery for transformations of specific one- to two-storey Melbourne streetscapes, via two representational modes: first, abstracted images of bulk and height scenarios for two different places; second, fully developed urban design visions for four different places. The urban experiences these images evoked and their levels of acceptability were explored through interviews with resident activists. One key finding is, as the bulk and height scenarios change from four to six storeys, from setback to no setback, or from 20 to 60% take-up, the average acceptability reduces by a factor of more than three. The detailed streetscape visions are more acceptable despite greater bulk and height but can produce cynicism. We suggest that such levels of acceptability to resident activists may be predictive of local politics, and levels of acceptability in the wider community may be higher. We conclude with commentary on the role of imagery within planning discourse, where it circulates in a highly contested political field, its accuracy rarely tested.

Delivering affordable housing through the planning system in urban renewal contexts: converging government roles in Queensland, South Australia and New South Wales

This paper outlines the current Australian policy environment for delivering affordable housing in urban renewal contexts. An increasing shift towards infill development, coupled with a decreasing provision of government-owned social housing, is placing severe pressure on housing affordability. The cumulative effect is to create the need for governments to intervene on urban renewal projects to ensure that affordable housing options are delivered as a part of any new development. Three different approaches to planning for affordable housing in three states are examined: the former Urban Land Development Authority in Queensland, the 15% inclusionary zoning requirement in South Australia and the Affordable Rental Housing State Environmental Planning Policy in New South Wales. Despite significant differences between these approaches, a number of potential roles emerge for government to support delivery of affordable housing by market and not-for-profit housing providers, without adversely affecting development viability. These roles are as the land facilitator, educator, risk taker, subsidiser and long-term planner. Given that one aim of current policy directions is to reduce the role of government in delivering housing and urban growth, the paper concludes by considering the extent to which the approaches across the three states studied can be considered successful.

The Factors Driving the Escalation of Community Opposition to Affordable Housing Development

Abstract Community opposition to locally unwanted development is not inherently problematic, but it can be destructive where conflict between proponents and objectors escalates. This paper relates mixed-methods findings from a Sydney case-study where opposition to planned affordable housing projects was widespread but uneven. Five factors are identified that escalated individual opposition campaigns in this case: public notification procedures; sense of injustice; prejudice; strong campaign leadership; and the involvement of politicians. We argue that these factors will likely also escalate opposition to the planned development of other forms of critical social infrastructure, and that an understanding of them can help minimise destructive conflicts between proponents and host communities.

Positive Planning and Sustainable Brownfield Regeneration: The Role and Potential of Government Land Development Agencies

Abstract State governments in Australia increasingly outsource the co-ordination and delivery of ‘difficult’ regeneration projects to state-owned land development agencies (LDAs). These LDAs were originally established in the 1970s with a strong redistributionist agenda, operating mainly to deliver low-cost residential land on greenfield sites. In the last 25 years, however, their roles have been redirected towards brownfield regeneration and they have been required to operate profitably. This paper uses the recent rise and fall of a powerful Queensland LDA to examine the potential of ‘positive planning’ in political contexts where governments wish to both limit their involvement in planning and achieve sustainable brownfield regeneration.

Delivering social housing: examining the nexus between social housing and democratic planning

Abstract The construction of social housing in gentrifying neighbourhoods can ignite contestation, revealing tensions between economic imperatives, social policy and neighbourhood change. With a view to understanding how the convergence of these agendas preserve unpopular, but socially critical housing infrastructure, the aim of this paper is to explore how the challenges social housing implementation encounters across these agendas intersect with a broader agenda for local democratic planning. Using social housing as our empirical focus and directing attention to the gentrifying local government area of Port Phillip in Victoria, Australia, this paper reveals how a council’s main asset to support implementation – its policy frameworks – creates an urban narrative of social inclusivity and diversity. Through this case, we illustrate how elected officials and some residents draw from these policies to interject into episodes of community contestation, which we argue presents opportunities to expose and renew commitments to social housing over space and time.

The impacts of mandatory design competitions on urban design quality in Sydney, Australia

ABSTRACT The pursuit of high-quality urban design through the planning process is made challenging by two key problematics. First, control over the decisions that produce or alter the built environment is differentially distributed across numerous public and private agents. Second, there is little agreement about what ‘good’ urban design is and how it is best pursued. Recognizing this, the focus in this paper is on how these two problematics are being tackled through a unique design control initiative in Sydney, Australia. This initiative requires that all major property developments are subject to a design competition before they can be approved. The paper reports the findings of 41 stakeholder interviews and appraisals of 25 projects completed under these provisions. These findings indicate that mandated design competitions have helped force a general raising of urban design quality by re-distributing decision-making control and enabling a broad but non-prescriptive approach to the regulation of design excellence.