Urban Design of Compact Cities

Increasing Residential Density and Housing Mix with Redevelopment

Mar 31, 2009

As cities adopt sustainability principles, urban areas will have to accommodate new growth through infilling and renewal of existing communities.

Municipalities are beginning to recognize that continued expansion on their fringes is irresponsible development. Some jurisdictions are investigating a more compact form of urban growth through redevelopment of older, existing communities.

Residents in these communities are not always well disposed to being the site of increased housing density; “not in my backyard” is a common response. Many people associate higher densities in residential development with noise pollution, crime, loss of privacy, traffic congestion, parking problems and increased demands on infrastructure.

Unfortunately, these are problems associated with growth—not necessarily with higher densities or redevelopment—and they will occur whether a city grows inwards or sprawls. Urban planners have sometimes failed to communicate the design features and benefits of more compact development.

The collective will to build more sustainably is growing. In many cities, citizens have participated in workshops, surveys and visioning processes to communicate their hopes for a more sustainable future. Confronted with greater density, however, many community organizations fight back.

In an effort to raise awareness about “good” density and its possibilities, Plan It Calgary explored the implications of increased housing densities and invited the public to participate in planning workshops like the Plan It Summit. Participants quickly realized that urban density, if properly designed, can be an asset to a city.

Housing Density Studies Inform Good Design

Building on the work of other cities and the book Visualizing Density, by Julie Campoli and Alex S. MacLean, the Plan It team assembled photos of different types of residential development and density. Many people have difficulty visualizing density; the photo montages clarified the differences between density at 3 to 5 units per acre (UPA) and density at 100 UPA.

As cities like San Francisco and New York demonstrate, a city can be densely populated and still retain attractive, walkable streets and green space. Simply by permitting the conversion of detached garages into granny suites, a city can improve densities in existing suburbs.

Changing Demographics and Sustainable Choices

Demand for more housing choice is increasing as populations mature and people move from the suburbs into other forms of accommodation. Immigration brings people who are accustomed to a denser form of urban development. Affordability of housing dictates greater densities as well; the single family suburban home is out of reach financially for many citizens.

As a city’s demographic composition changes, demand for public transit increases. Younger arrivals are looking for alternate modes of travel including cycling, walking and car pooling, to name just three transportation modalities. People who cannot afford motor vehicles or who choose not to drive need options too.

Given that accommodating growth through annexation of open space and farm land is no longer tenable, new development will have to be contained within existing boundaries. That leaves some strategically located nodes and corridors in established, older neighbourhoods as the logical places to increase housing and job densities in mixed used communities.

Thoughtful urban design can reconcile higher density with transit networks to produce attractively-designed and liveable cities for a sustainable future.

The copyright of the article Urban Design of Compact Cities in Architecture is owned by Andree Iffrig. Permission to republish Urban Design of Compact Cities in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.