Dwelling in Density: Opportunities for Civic Agency and Collective Social Captial

Dwelling in Density:
Opportunities for Civic Agency and Collective Social Capital
Session Presentation
Human Environments and Ecosystemic Effects
Spaces & Flows 7th International Conference 2016
Amelyn Ng
Melbourne, Australia

dwelling in density
Density prompts new thinking.
Re-evaluating the financialisation of the inner-city urban housing market & the architecture
profession’s ‘permissive’ relationship with neoliberal real-estate.

Docklands Drive & Bourke Street, Docklands, Melbourne
Source: Film Victoria Australia

Southbank, Melbourne
Source: Urban Melbourne

fishermans bend, melbourne
Fishermans Bend, ‘Australia’s Largest Urban Renewal Project’: 485Ha ex-industrial land to house 80,000 residents by
2050. Source: FBURA Recast Fact Sheet, DELWP, Victorian Planning Authority Website, April 2015.
Amendments to Planning Scheme: Interim mandatory maximum height controls for brownfield site
New residential & employment precincts to accommodate 80,000 people & support 60,000 new jobs by 2050.
Authentic or token ‘mixed-use’ development? “The next Docklands”?

Fishermans Bend Urban Renewal- various multi-tower masterplan developmentts
Source: Urban Melbourne.

Fishermans Bend Urban Renewal- various approved schemes
Source: Urban Melbourne.

dwelling in density-beyond affordability
Solutions beyond supply to the housing affordability problem
OPINION
The Conversation By Nicole Gurran, Robin Goodman, Steven Rowley and John Daley
Updated Mon 24 Oct 2016, 7:04pm
Treasurer Scott Morrison has outlined his vision for increasing home ownership at a speech to the Urban
Development Institute of Australia.
The Treasurer acknowledged it was hard for first home buyers to get into the Australian housing market and suggested a
number of barriers to increasing housing supply.
We asked an expert panel to analyse these and suggest what other ideas they might have for easing the problem.
What the states need to do
The Treasurer's comments about the planning system are out of date. A decade of state reforms to alleviate supply
constraints have enabled the inner city apartment boom, and generated a steady supply of outer suburban land to build
on.
With housing construction at record numbers, state planning systems are clearly able to respond to rising market
demand. Putting aside questions about the location and quality of new housing, increased construction hasn't delivered
cheaper homes, nor does the Treasurer seem to want that.
In fact, he spends much of his speech cautioning about risks to the housing market from the removal of negative gearing
or from an over-supply of apartments.
With our housing system so dependent on the private sector, the real question is how to keep construction running when
the market cools.
If Treasurer Morrison is truly concerned about affordability he should also be asking how to secure affordable homes as
part of new development, without lowering values across the established market.
Providing incentives for developers to provide affordable homes is an obvious solution and one that the property industry
itself has been lobbying for. This entails government support to drive investment towards affordable rental housing and to
enable a new range of housing products such as shared equity and low cost home ownership.
At present, only around 2 per cent of new homes are delivered by affordable and non profit housing providers. A larger
affordable housing sector, assisted by government to draw on innovative sources of institutional finance, would be able to
sustain new housing construction, irrespective of the market cycle.
The commonwealth should negotiate with states so that infrastructure investment and land release is closely linked to

eyond affordability
Broadening current discourse on inner-city development beyond quantitative, short-term
market delivery/feasibility, to include long-term social value & sustain rights of the citizen.
“...the city [is] not simply an economic or geographic
phenomenon, but above all, a social complex.
...If first place is given to questions of financial remuneration
and if no more of the common human factor enters into the
picture than can be enforced by building codes, then... the
life of the individual becomes atomised.”
- Sigfried Gideon, ‘Contact Between the Individual & Community’, Architecture You & Me, 1958, p158.

eyond affordability
Broadening current discourse on inner-city development beyond quantitative, short-term
market delivery/feasibility, to include long-term social value & sustain rights of the citizen.
‘the right to
self-management’
‘the right
to culture’
‘the right
to (public)
services’
‘the right to
identity within
difference’
‘Rights of the Citizen’, Lefebvre, Henri, eds. Stuart Elden, Elizabeth Lebas, &
Eleonore Kofman, Henri Lefebvre: key writings, New York: Continuum, 2003, p250-253.

the architect's framework
Navigating site & time constraints, types, public & private

civic agency
+
1 2
CIVITAS
agentia

civic agency
Magnette, Paul, Citizenship: The History of an Idea, Colchester: ECPR Press, 2005, p19.
1
CIVITAS
(Latin)
Citizenship, espcially as
imparting shared responsibility,
a common purpose,
and sense of community.
Instead of Greek politeia (city is superior to
citizen), Latin first recognises the citizen
(from which ‘city’ & ‘citizenship’ are derived)-
based on kinship not on territory.
“Citizenship is a status of reciprocity”.

civic agency
Online Etymology Dictionary, 2016.
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2015.
2
agentia
(Medieval Latin, 1650s)
Active operation.
(Sociology / Philosophy)
The exercise of an agent’s capacity to act in a given environment.

agency
Hewson, Martin (2010). “Agency”, in Encyclopedia of Case Study Research, ed. Albert J. Mills et
al, LA: SAGE Publications, 2010, pp 13-17.
2
agency
Hewson’s Classification:
individual proxy collective
‘I act on my own
behalf ’
‘Someone else acts on
my behalf ’
‘we act together’

agency
Hewson, Martin (2010). “Agency”, in Encyclopedia of Case Study Research, ed. Albert J. Mills et
al, LA: SAGE Publications, 2010, pp 13-17.
‘I act on my own
behalf ’
‘Someone else acts on
my behalf ’
‘we act together’

social capital
OECD, ‘What is Social Capital?’, OECD Insights: Human Capital, last updated 20 Feb 2007,
https://www.oecd.org/insights/37966934.pdf.
social capital
(OECD, 2007)
“the links, shared values and understandings in society that enable
individuals and groups to trust each other and so work together”
(Robert Putnam, “Bowling Alone: America’s Declining Social Capital”, 1995)
“social networks”
= norms of reciprocity
= trust + cooperation
= improved security + trade
“making democracy work”

social capital
OECD, ‘What is Social Capital?’, OECD Insights: Human Capital, last updated 20 Feb 2007,
https://www.oecd.org/insights/37966934.pdf.
social capital
(OECD, 2007)
“bonds” “bridges” “linkages”

1
common ground
Ground plane as civic interface & catalyst

common ground
“No apartment is an island”:
Connecting continguous residential sites & reinforcing sociocultural adacencies
• Conventional multi-residential towers
remain insular to individual
plots
• ‘Turning its back to the street’
Impermeability denies public
• engagement & breeds isolation
• Erosion of social capital & ‘neighbour’
Albert Tower, St Kilda Road Southbank
Source: Rothelowman

common ground
“No apartment is an island”:
Connecting continguous residential sites & reinforcing sociocultural adacencies
• Conventional multi-residential towers
remain insular to individual
plots
• ‘Turning its back to the street’
Impermeability denies public
• engagement & breeds isolation
• Erosion of social capital & ‘neighbour’
My80 Tower, Melbourne CBD
Source: Peter Clarke

common ground
“No apartment is an island”:
Connecting continguous residential sites & reinforcing sociocultural adacencies
• Conventional multi-residential towers
remain insular to individual
plots
• ‘Turning its back to the street’
Impermeability denies public
• engagement & breeds isolation
• Erosion of social capital & ‘neighbour’
• Potential to democratise through-access
and protect urban continuity
• Establish common ground plane across
multiple private developments:
new procurement model needed
• Permeable social layer at street level
• Implement horizontal ‘setback’ zoning?

common ground
“No apartment is an island”: Plot Ratio
Source (left): Plot Ratio: A Plan to Combat Congestion in London, London County Council, 1957

common ground
“No apartment is an island”: Planar Consideration of Plot Ratio

common ground
Architectural legibility of civic ground, diversity and access

common ground
High-rise homogeneity & insularity: prevailing apartment model
• ‘Locked Lobby’:
developer’s modus operandi
• Gated vertical communities
seen as a typological ‘norm’
• Inert street interfaces
• Monocultural branding
• Poor civic utility
My80 Tower, Melbourne CBD
Source: Peter Clarke

common ground
“No apartment is an island”:
Connecting continguous residential sites & reinforcing sociocultural adacencies
• ‘Locked Lobby’:
developer’s modus operandi
• Gated vertical communities
seen as a typological ‘norm’
• Inert street interfaces
• Monocultural branding
• Poor civic utility
• ‘Open Lobby’: Time-sensitive programming
• Intelligent, culturally productive shared interfaces
• Programmatic flexibility managed by both body
corporate and in part by residents
• Policy level change needed for large-scale adoption:
Re-evaluate zone overlays, prompt developers/
architects of adjacent sites to negotiate shared space
prior to lodging of planning drawings

HSBC Headquarters by Foster + Partners, Hong Kong - Atrium on Weekday
Source: Foster + Partners

HSBC Headquarters by Foster + Partners, Hong Kong - Atrium on Weekend
Source: Foster + Partners

HSBC Headquarters by Foster + Partners, Hong Kong - Occupy Protests Nov 2011
Photo by Thomas Lee / Bloomberg via Getty. Source: The New Yorker

2
amenity-share
Pooling public & private amenity, rethinking connections

Melbourne CBD Typical apartment amenities
Sources: Elenberg Fraser (above), Rothelowman (below).

amenity-share
Current model of private access to generic amenity assets in luxury apartment developments:
Unsustainable duplicates, siloing of social interactions

amenity-share
Best locations (views, solar access) in high-density environments are private:
Vertical gradient of real-estate value and displacement of street-level desirability casuses
power imbalances between public and private, and instigate identity-related inequality.

amenity-share
Current model of private access to generic amenity assets in luxury apartment developments:
Unsustainable duplicates, siloing of social interactions

amenity-share
Redefining ‘communal space’: disembedding amenity & sharing with adjacent sites
Reducing unnecessary duplication & strengthening existing civic infrastructure
Public gym, pool, oval, sports facilities
Public parks and landscaping
Home-offices & consultancies
Bookable multi-purpose
halls & recreation rooms
Subsidised studio &
workshop spaces
Community legal services
Childcare & education support services

amenity-share
Redefining ‘communal space’: disembedding amenity & sharing with adjacent sites
Reducing unnecessary duplication & strengthening existing civic infrastructure

amenity-share
Potential for high-rise residential typology to have more horizontal ‘rhizomatic’ relations:
Deleuze, Gilles, and Félix Guattari, A thousand plateaus: capitalism and schizophrenia.
London: Continuum, 2004.

amenity-share
Potential for high-rise residential typology to have more horizontal ‘rhizomatic’ relations:
Image source: eprints.usq.edu.au.

amenity-share
Potential for high-rise residential typology to have more horizontal ‘rhizomatic’ relations:
Programmatic links across sites, restructuring vertical hierarchies between public & private.

uilding review
Potential for high-rise residential typology to have more horizontal ‘rhizomatic’ relations:
Linked Hybrid, Beijing by Stephen Holl Architects. Source: Archdaily
+
walkable
intermediate
connections
programmatic
variation
typological
reinvention

uilding review
Potential for high-rise residential typology to have more horizontal ‘rhizomatic’ relations:
Linked Hybrid, Beijing by Stephen Holl Architects. Source: Archdaily

uilding review
Potential for high-rise residential typology to have more horizontal ‘rhizomatic’ relations:
Linked Hybrid, Beijing by Stephen Holl Architects. Source: Archdaily

uilding review
‘Rhizomatic’ relations not yet autonomous- many unconventional/experimental typologies are
costly and thus rely heavily on capitalist (even laissez-faire) development.
Linked Hybrid, Beijing by Stephen Holl Architects. Source: Archdaily
+ -
walkable
intermediate
connections
‘fortress’ site
single-developer
multi-tower
development
programmatic
variation
typological
reinvention
private program
private access
Unwalkable ground
plane & scale
imabalance
Poor street-level
density & intensity

uilding review
Potential for high-rise residential typology to have more horizontal ‘rhizomatic’ relations:
Linked Hybrid, Beijing by Stephen Holl Architects. Source: Archdaily
-
‘fortress’ site
single-developer
multi-tower
development
private program
private access
Unwalkable ground
plane & scale
imabalance
Poor street-level
density & intensity

uilding review
Potential for high-rise residential typology to have more horizontal ‘rhizomatic’ relations:
Linked Hybrid, Beijing by Stephen Holl Architects. Source: Archdaily

6
self-governance
Gaps for community ownership & operation

self-governance
Importance of distributed responsibility amongst occupants for mid-to-high density
neighbourhood creation and sustainable security.

33M by Elenberg Fraser, Melbourne CBD
Source: Peter Clarke (left), Domain (right)

Heller Street Park & Residences by Six Degrees Architects, Brunswick
Source: Patrick Rodgriguez

Heller Street Park & Residences by Six Degrees Architects, Brunswick
Source: Hansen

4
social stamina
Demographic diversity, mixed-dwelling models

demographic diversity
Democratising urban fabric and access to inner-city housing
Integration over fragmentation in zoning controls

demographic diversity
Democratising urban fabric and access to inner-city housing
Integration over fragmentation in zoning controls

demographic diversity
Democratising urban fabric and access to inner-city housing
Integration over fragmentation in zoning controls

ethinking delivery
Commitment to a more equitable property market

Nightingale Model instigated by Breathe Architecture, across various inner Melbourne sites
Triple-bottom-line, architect driven multi-residential development model geared towards owner-occupiers.
Source: Andrew Wuttke

melbourne: nightingale model
Triple-bottom-line “open source” multi-residential development model, architect-driven, geared towards owner-occupiers.
Source: Nightingale website.

melbourne: nightingale model
Triple-bottom-line “open source” multi-residential development model, architect-driven, geared towards owner-occupiers.
Source: Nightingale website.

First Nightingale Project: The Commons, Brunswick by Breathe Architecture
Source: Andrew Wuttke

First Nightingale Project: The Commons, Brunswick by Breathe Architecture
Source: Andrew Wuttke

First Nightingale Project: The Commons, Brunswick by Breathe Architecture
Source: Andrew Wuttke

First Nightingale Project: The Commons, Brunswick by Breathe Architecture
Source: Andrew Wuttke (left), James Geer (right)

melbourne: nightingale model
Staging of architect-led open-source model + ethical investors + purchaser engagement
Source: Nightingale website.
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1 2 3
4 ?
?
?

eadjusting the architect's framework
Where is civic amenity in the Better Apartment Standards?
‘Better Apartments’, DELWP, Victorian Planning Authority Website, April 2015.

the architect's framework
Detail > Form > Type > Adjacent > Urban > Timescale > Market Behaviour > New Norms
Gifu Kitagata Apartments, SANAA

the architect's framework
Detail > Form > Type > Adjacent > Urban > Timescale > Market Behaviour > New Norms

the architect's framework
Detail > Form > Type > Adjacent > Urban > Timescale > Market Behaviour > New Norms

the architect's framework
Detail > Form > Type > Adjacent > Urban > Timescale > Market Behaviour > New Norms

the architect's framework
Detail > Form > Type > Adjacent > Urban > Timescale > Market Behaviour > New Norms

the architect's framework
Detail > Form > Type > Adjacent > Urban > Timescale > Market Behaviour > New Norms
Deterministic
‘a-hand-in-everything’
Darwinistic
‘hands-off ’
Opportunistic
‘hands-on’
Jesko Fezer, Civic City CAhier 6: Design In & Against the Neoliberal City,
London: Bedford Press, 2013, p24.

next steps
From abstract research to tangible reality: incremental changes to policy, management,
interdisciplinary probing required to enable liveable realities to surface at the citizen interface.

next steps
From abstract research to tangible reality: incremental changes to policy, management,
interdisciplinary probing required to enable liveable realities to surface at the citizen interface.

next steps
From abstract research to tangible reality: incremental changes to policy, management,
interdisciplinary probing required to enable liveable realities to surface at the citizen interface.

next steps
From abstract research to tangible reality: incremental changes to policy, management,
interdisciplinary probing required to enable liveable realities to surface at the citizen interface.

next steps
From abstract research to tangible reality: incremental changes to policy, management,
interdisciplinary probing required to enable liveable realities to surface at the citizen interface.

next steps
From abstract research to tangible reality: incremental changes to policy, management,
interdisciplinary probing required to enable liveable realities to surface at the citizen interface.

next steps
From abstract research to tangible reality: incremental changes to policy, management,
interdisciplinary probing required to enable liveable realities to surface at the citizen interface.

next steps
From abstract research to tangible reality: incremental changes to policy, management,
interdisciplinary probing required to enable liveable realities to surface at the citizen interface.