One vision of the future? Medium-rise
terrace in Glasgow. Who wouldn’t want to live here?
Great article from the Irish Times 7
June 2021
Two things need to be said.
—One, tower blocks are not the
answer.
—Two, comprehensive redevelopment of
the inner suburbs is required. This needs the full involvement of stakeholders
and full, generous compensation for the upheaval and inconvenience.
Say no to zoning and low density
housing
Let’s look at how we got here. The
aim of architects and planners to separate urban functions and to allocate more
space to housing was well-intentioned. Industry in the 1930s was pretty
malodorous and it made sense to get it out of city back yards. And people
needed better housing.
The beneficial effects were
immediately apparent and the downside a matter of a bit more driving, perhaps.
The disadvantages are what we suffer now. Low-density planning increased the
demand for land. It raised the cost of housing and added to the time taken to
get around. Higher house prices cost us socially, economically, healthwise and
environmentally.
Looking just at the economics,
low-density housing means bigger mortgages and long commutes. Overworking and
commuting takes time from families and from community involvement.
At the core of the problem is the
fact that, other things being equal, the further a property is from the city
centre and other amenities, the less desirable it is and the more desirable a
central location becomes. Limited supply and high demand for central locations
raises the cost of every other house. Every increase in the cost of city centre
locations raises the cost of every other property or else increases the need to
commute – or usually both.
Social costs
There will always be some price
differential related to distance from city centres and amenities. Ireland is an
extreme case of the hazards of low-density, urban sprawl. The ambition to give
everyone a front and back garden turns out to be as problematic as promising to
put everyone at the front of a queue. It worked for a while but now we have
paralysis.
At the core of the problem, we can
see that high housing costs drives up rents which destroys people’s ability to
save. High land prices drive up retail costs which also makes saving harder.
Needing two jobs to pay for a home
necessitates a second car and childcare. The social costs from the despair of
eternal renting to the stress of paying for it and time in traffic are plainly
horrendous.
The solution? Not easy!
What we can understand from this is
that the dramatic acceleration in the use of land has had very costly
consequences. Reversing that won’t be easy. The housing crisis truly is a
wicked problem. Defining it correctly is part of the problem; there is no
single right answer.
Solutions will change the system
irreversibly and quite possibly some will feel a loss due to any policy solution
being implemented. But as it is, everyone except those in a paid-for home and
with large salaries is being crushed by housing costs. Even grandparents bear a
burden as they see their children leading tiring lives and perhaps are even
tired themselves from obligatory grandchildcare.
Renewed Town Planning: Changing the Housing format.
The solution is not a market fix,
tempting though that may be. Solving this demands political vision, economic
investment and the involvement of communities and architects. Policymakers must
engage with something they tend to avoid: architecture and design.
This is because design and
architecture are fundamental to the solution and are not merely a matter of
decoration. Specifically, policymakers have to buy into a solution with a
specific architectural expression. The exact format of the housing in an affordable
city is as important as the exact procedure a surgeon follows to treat a
patient.
So, what does the solution look like?
It will offend Ireland’s particularly vociferous high-rise boosters and fans of
the three-bed-semi equally. The solution looks like the 19th-century city:
streets with modern construction standards, a minimum of 120 sq m for each
family and a variety of single family homes, up to five or six floors.
This pattern exists already – it’s
the standard in Germany and many north European cities (the ones we like to
visit). So, it’s nothing strange. Modern building technology can mitigate or
eliminate neighbour noise.
There are no technical barriers to
the affordable, medium-density city. It must be reiterated that it involves a
mix of housing formats so there is something even for those who insist on a
single-family home.
We’ve tried the low-rise city suburb,
and we’ve tried high-rise apartments.
The solution is moderate density,
high-design standards and political will.
From https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/moderate-density-design-and-political-will-can-solve-housing-crisis-1.4585862
(with edits)
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