Further Recommendations for Living at Superdensity 

Here are our key recommendations for making superdensity work in 2015.

1. Adopt mid-rise development to meet London’s housing needs: apartment blocks of between five and eight storeys, including family apartments and duplexes, create successful  homes and neighbourhoods at surprisingly high densities, are  cost-effective and perpetuate the character and street life of London. Creative combinations of mid-rise mansion blocks with taller elements can make room for family houses within high density neighbourhoods.
   


2. Resist ‘hyperdensity’: there should be a presumption against ‘hyperdense’ developments over 350 homes per hectare, which  should be confined to exceptional locations and subject to exceptional justification. At these densities, and even with the best practice approach we advocate, it is very difficult to create the conditions that allow mixed communities to thrive. The Mayor’s new Housing Zones should not become populated with such hyperdense schemes.
   


3. Integrate towers with street-based typologies: taller buildings do have a role within well-connected developments, provided they are integrated with other typologies and contribute to the creation of successful streets and other public realm. We must avoid trophy towers dropped at random into our unique city: they are alien to our street-based culture, socially divisive and make little contribution to meeting London’s housing needs.
   


4. Promote street life: the streets and squares of London provide an unbeatable model for successful urban living and are the envy of the world. We need to continue this tradition of urban place-making, ensuring all new development begins with a coherent strategy for the public realm. 
   


5. Build on London’s tradition of mixed communities: unlike other global cities, London’s residential neighbourhoods have evolved by successfully integrating diverse people of different income, age and household size. Larger developments should contain a balance of homes  for families, the elderly and young people.The economic and social health of our city requires it. 
   


6. Provide a wider range of housing typologies: planning policies and standards are focused on conventional models of permanent housing for long-stay households. We also need alternative types of housing design and tenure to attract and retain London’s young mobile workforce. 
   


7. Harness space above public buildings: recent precedents show that successful new homes can be built above schools, libraries, shops, cinemas and workspace. There is much more scope to exploit air-rights to meet housing need and intensify street-life - including making better use of public-sector land. 
   


8. Design for management: intelligent management plans are essential to avoid  future  social and management problems in high-density housing. We need to balance capital and maintenance costs through tighter specifications, closer collaboration with suppliers and early involvement of housing managers in the design process. 


9. Make service charges affordable for all: very dense developments, and especially tall towers, have higher  management and maintenance costs than other typologies, and create more intense pressure on shared space and infrastructure. More rigorous projections of service charges are required to ensure that dense developments pay their way, but do not become unaffordable for future occupiers. 
   


10. Develop new funding streams for long term management: we should under-write the long-term management of shared space and community facilties through capital endowments at planning approval stage and ring-fencing income from ground rents.
    

And finally, let us not give in to collective amnesia. We have spent the last 30 years trying to understand and correct the mistakes of post-war development. Let’s use this knowledge and not repeat the same mistakes.