Chapter 3 - Creating mixed communities at Superdensity
Matthew Goulcher, Levitt Bernstein
Diversity brings untold physical, social and economic benefit and we value it as a hallmark of a vibrant place and a civilised society. It is one of the attributes for which London is internationally renowned and yet we risk losing it, perhaps in the course of the next 20 years
London has always taken pride in being a city for everyone: to visit, to use and to live in. Until relatively recently, the city’s housing stock has been as diverse as its citizens. Young and old, singles and families, rich and poor and people of all ethnicities have coexisted within neighbourhoods to create rich, naturally evolving, mixed communities. This diversity brings untold physical, social and economic benefit and we value it as a hallmark of a vibrant place and a civilised society. It is one of the attributes for which London is internationally renowned and yet we risk losing it, perhaps in the course of the next 20 years.
Spiralling density, fuelled by an acute housing shortage and soaring land value, has led to an unprecedented price hike - jeopardising the principle of mixed communities. As house prices have risen, the provision of affordable housing has plummeted and it is now much harder to move into London, or to trade-up within it. Even in outer areas like Waltham Forest and Enfield, prices are now beyond the reach of many ordinary Londoners. Families who want a house with a garden have to settle for a two bedroom flat and face on-going affordability issues because of service charges they can’t control.
Young, single professionals face similar exclusion from the London housing market. Twenty years ago it was normal to share a flat or a house through university and for a couple of years beyond that. Now, a large proportion of young, single professionals are flat-sharing into their late thirties and even forties – some even sharing rooms into middle age with life-limiting consequences. ‘Want to buy but forced to rent’ is the predicament for a hidden number who are not officially ‘homeless’, but are without a home.
Only politicians can solve these huge, underlying problems but part of the solution is to ensure that every sizeable development supports diversity. A good brief is one that demands a wide range of dwelling types – designed to address diverse needs and circumstances. Mixed use, mixed tenure and mixed typologies for mixed income households are the basis of a mixed community. Ensuring that these spaces - housing and non-housing, indoor and outdoor - are of a high quality and remain flexible and manageable over time will secure their future, and the future of the city.
Spiralling density, fuelled by an acute housing shortage and soaring land value, has led to an unprecedented price hike - jeopardising the principle of mixed communities. As house prices have risen, the provision of affordable housing has plummeted and it is now much harder to move into London, or to trade-up within it. Even in outer areas like Waltham Forest and Enfield, prices are now beyond the reach of many ordinary Londoners. Families who want a house with a garden have to settle for a two bedroom flat and face on-going affordability issues because of service charges they can’t control.
Young, single professionals face similar exclusion from the London housing market. Twenty years ago it was normal to share a flat or a house through university and for a couple of years beyond that. Now, a large proportion of young, single professionals are flat-sharing into their late thirties and even forties – some even sharing rooms into middle age with life-limiting consequences. ‘Want to buy but forced to rent’ is the predicament for a hidden number who are not officially ‘homeless’, but are without a home.
Only politicians can solve these huge, underlying problems but part of the solution is to ensure that every sizeable development supports diversity. A good brief is one that demands a wide range of dwelling types – designed to address diverse needs and circumstances. Mixed use, mixed tenure and mixed typologies for mixed income households are the basis of a mixed community. Ensuring that these spaces - housing and non-housing, indoor and outdoor - are of a high quality and remain flexible and manageable over time will secure their future, and the future of the city.
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Conclusions
London has a lot to offer and a lot to lose. It is here that the principle of mixed communities seems so valuable and yet so threatened. Too much new residential development is mono-tenure, aimed at the affluent, or buy to let investors, rather than satisfying local need. Affordable housing targets are too often waived, the principles of tenure blind development ignored, and gated developments permitted at the expense of normal street activity. If London is to remain a city for everyone, we need to give more thought to the range and types of dwellings we provide within a development, how we combine uses and tenures, how homes are marketed and how charges are levied. Every neighbourhood, and most developments, should offer something for young and old, singles and families, rich and poor. The right mix makes the social and physical fabric of a place more interesting and more balanced and the finer the grain, the better the outcome. We need to face up to the crisis facing young low paid professionals, the predicament of families and the lack of options for older people. We should look at ways to cross-subsidise the cost of building larger homes so that the burden is not carried solely by the purchaser, and find ways to keep service charges manageable - the subject of our next and final chapter. And we need to tread carefully. A number of new developments that fall well within our definition of superdensity have already failed due to poor design, the wrong tenure balance, inadequate security and/or lack of good management and maintenance. At densities above 350 dph and even with the best practice approach we advocate, it feels very unlikely that we can create the conditions that allow mixed communities to thrive. |
Recommendations
Create genuinely mixed developments: all sizeable new developments should make provision for young and old, singles and families, rich and poor. They should be mixed tenure and tenure blind supported by simpler and more realistic Section 106 policies. Cater better for families: supported through planning policy, developments should include more homes with three or more bedrooms and provide a proportion of these as houses or maisonettes. Family homes should offer at least one single bedroom and utility space or extra storage. Set targets as bedspaces per hectare: if policy makers set targets by bedspaces, it would help avoid small, single person dwellings becoming the easiest, or only, way to achieve the required numbers. Provide a wider range of housing typologies: layouts should be designed to respond to different types of need; including those of older and disabled people. New types of short-term, shared housing are urgently needed for young people. Harness space above public buildings: more public buildings should have housing above, provided that the type of housing is compatible with the non-residential uses. Design to promote social interaction and sustainability: solutions such as deck access and atria that promote the potential for social interaction and provide increased daylight, natural ventilation and passive ways to achieve year-round thermal comfort should be encouraged, alongside compact-core ‘mansion block’ arrangements. |