High-density Development Research Articles

Strategic easing of height restrictions: Unveiling the intersection of free market principles and colonial mentality in Hong Kong’s urban densification

ABSTRACT High-density housing development is considered a pragmatic response to the conflicts between land scarcity and population growth. Under the rhetoric of (neo)liberalism, the flourishing private housing market narrative was anchored throughout the last century, along with significant contributions from government regulations. The 1955 Buildings Ordinance, which eased height limits, laid the groundwork for Hong Kong’s high-density foundations. The existing historiographical literature examines this from a technical perspective. However, it overlooks the decision-making processes behind these regulations and their alignment with or deviation from free market principles. This study examines colonial archives to scrutinize the colonial government’s approach to building regulations, revealing that easing height restrictions was not merely a technical adjustment but a calculated response to broader economic and demographic challenges. It was a strategy to stimulate private housing development and manage population growth without significantly increasing government spending. This raises concerns regarding prevailing assumptions that the colonial government supported a free-market approach to housing rather than exploring the debates and deliberations that shaped these policies. By comparing colonial experiences in Hong Kong and London, historical analysis challenges the conventional understanding of Hong Kong’s urban development, thereby highlighting the contentious relationship between liberal economic policies and the colonial administrative framework.

Correlations between an Urban Three-Dimensional Pedestrian Network and Service Industry Layouts Based on Graph Convolutional Neural Networks: A Case Study of Xinjiekou, Nanjing

Urban high-density development has led to the emergence of complex three-dimensional pedestrian networks. As a crucial component of city centers, these networks significantly influence the spatial distribution of service industries. Understanding the correlation between pedestrian networks and service industry layouts is vital for effective planning and development. This study proposes a technical framework for analyzing the relationship between three-dimensional pedestrian networks and service industry layouts. Using the Xinjiekou central area in Nanjing as a case study, we constructed a three-dimensional pedestrian network model using the sDNA method. Focusing on catering formats, we introduced a method to study the spatial distribution characteristics of service industries in three-dimensional spaces and employed a graph convolutional network model to systematically analyze the correlation between pedestrian network closeness and betweenness with catering formats. The results indicate that pedestrian network closeness is significantly positively correlated with the number and average spending of catering formats, while betweenness shows almost no correlation. High-closeness areas, due to their traffic convenience and walkability, are more conducive to the concentration of catering formats and higher spending levels. Our findings provide valuable insights for catering format location decisions and the optimization of three-dimensional pedestrian networks, contributing to sustainable urban development.

Critical Success Barriers (CSB) to Rental Housing Policy Implementation in Urban India

Barriers to rental housing (RH) pose significant challenges to urban development in India. This study examines critical success barriers (CSBs) to implementing RH policies, offering novel insights into this underexplored area. Despite rising demand for RH, significant obstacles hinder effective policy execution. Through expert surveys with 36 respondents and RIDIT analysis, the research identifies and prioritizes 16 CSBs, categorized into Regulatory and Institutional, Economic and Market, and Infrastructure and Development groups. Key findings reveal that the most critical barriers are inflexible rental agreements, negative social attitudes, and the absence of government incentives. These interdependent barriers impact the feasibility, attractiveness, and sustainability of RH projects. Inflexible agreements limit participation, negative social attitudes hinder inclusive development, and lack of incentives reduces private investment. The study recommends revising rental agreements, providing substantial incentives to private investors, and promoting high-density development through modified zoning regulations. Emphasizing multi-level governance, stakeholder engagement, and regular policy evaluations is crucial for effective implementation. Addressing these barriers can enhance the RH sector's sustainability and scalability. This research contributes to the existing literature by providing a quantitative framework for identifying and prioritizing CSBs in the RH, offering valuable insights for policymakers, developers, and stakeholders in urban housing.

Legal Perspectives on New Urban Quarters in Germany: Living the Dream of the Compact City?

The ‘leitmotif’ of the compact city has become a widely embraced template for sustainable urban development. Particularly infill and redevelopment areas, as well as many planned new settlements, have been built following the planning principles of urban compaction. Numerous positive effects are attributed to high-density settlements such as more efficient use of infrastructure and less reliance on automobile travel. Planning law and policies, in Germany as well as other countries around the world, regularly strive to advance high-density developments, but it is by no means clear whether the prescribed densities in planning policies actually lead to vibrant and healthy places which fulfill the expectations of their inhabitants with regards to their quality of life. The study aims to analyze the relation between binding land-use plans in Germany and individual perceptions of urban density through a case study-based survey. This paper contributes to providing new information on achieving compact urban form and quality of life in new urban quarters by analyzing the change of densities over the past three decades in ‘large’ urban developments across Germany, by an in-depth assessment of planned and built densities within an archetypal urban extension and finally by contrasting these ‘objective’ figures and findings with the ‘subjective’ feelings of inhabitants. For sources of information, this paper draws from literature, surveys and empirical analyses as well as desktop-studies.

Addressing urban social and spatial stratification: testing the potential for integration of public housing

The legacy of public housing in the American city is dominated by a condition of social and spatial stratification. In New York City, inadequate funding exacerbates the conditions of isolated public housing residents, raising questions about the stability and sustainability of public housing. At a time when a severe housing crisis is impacting on the affordability of and access to urban housing generally, addressing this legacy of public housing can be the impetus for a long-term vision that integrates public housing into the fabric of the city, providing new housing options for public housing residents while merging them into mixed-income neighbourhoods with redefined public spaces and increased services and amenities. This approach to a long-term vision, built around high-density mid-rise development, contrasts with the incremental approach currently expedient due to the social and political climate surrounding public housing. However, current resistance to an aggressive strategy belies another part of the legacy of public housing: the major demolition of city streets and blocks that made possible the anti-urban planning that undergirds this isolation and stratification. Empirical evidence supports urban design that builds on the nineteenth-century city’s urban form of small blocks and active streets as the foundation for vital urban neighbourhoods. This study of the political and urban design efforts to address the severe challenges facing public housing tests the potential for a path, when the political and social climate allows, for an aggressive strategy to preserve public housing that centres on social and spatial integration.

축소사회에서의 주거권 및 주거정책에 대한 고찰

Housing rights simultaneously embody the characteristics of civil, environmental, and social rights. From a social rights perspective, these rights, involving significant state financial investment, are often referred to as the right to survival that relies on state finances. It is a natural conclusion that alleviating floor area ratio restrictions to attract market funding while reducing the state’s financial burden is an effective way to supply rental housing and similar facilities. As society transitions into a shrinking one, significant concerns arise about the current generation’s consideration of future generations. In this context, uniform mass production and consumption-based developmental strategies are no longer valid or practical. Supply-oriented housing development can deprive future generations of developmental opportunities, severely undermining their housing rights. Current generations exploiting the floor area ratio may diminish development profitability for future generations, ultimately rendering development unfeasible. This is where the floor area ratio becomes a point of contention between current and future generations. The Transfer of Development Rights(‘TDR’) system enables landowners who cannot fully utilize their floor area ratio to transfer their “unused” floor area ratio to a third party, allowing that party to pursue high-density development. The TDR system is crucial for fostering equity between current and future generations while maintaining the total of overall floor area ratio. Moreover, it holds significant value in realizing housing rights within today’s shrinking society.

Perlite incorporation for sedimentation reduction and improved properties of high-density geopolymer cement for oil well cementing

Portland cement (PC) is known for its environmental and technical concerns and massive energy consumption during manufacturing. Geopolymer cement is a promising technology to totally replace the use of PC in the oil and gas industry. Although geopolymers are widely used in the construction industry, it is yet to see a full-scale application in the petroleum industry. High-density geopolymer cement development is essential to substitute heavy-weight Portland cement slurries for high pressure well cementing applications. Sedimentation issue is associated with high-density cement slurries which use high specific gravity solids such as weighting materials. This problem causes heterogeneity and density variation along the cemented sections. The main target of this work is to evaluate the use of perlite powder to address the sedimentation issue in the heavy weight geopolymer systems. Hematite-based Class F fly ash (FFA) geopolymer cement slurries with perlite concentrations of 0, 1.5, and 3% by weight of binder (BWOB) were prepared. The sedimentation problem was investigated using three techniques: API method, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and computed tomography (CT) scan. The perlite effects on different geopolymer properties such as unconfined compressive strength (UCS), porosity, elastic and rheological properties were assessed. The results proved that perlite incorporation in high-density hematite-based FFA geopolymer significantly reduced sedimentation issue by increasing yield point and gel strength. NMR and CT scan showed that perlite decreases porosity and density variation across the geopolymer samples. The UCS increased with increasing perlite percentage from 0 to 3%. The measured Young’s moduli (YM) and Poisson’s ratios (PR) showed that the developed perlite based geopolymer systems are considered more flexible than Class G cement systems. It was found that the optimum perlite concentration is 3% BWOB for tackling sedimentation and developing a slurry with acceptable mixability and rheological properties.

A Preliminary Study on the Sustainable Development of High-Density Cities

In the process of development of high-density cities in China, it has become important to promote the intensive and compact use of urban land, explore the efficiency of land resource use, and create a dynamic environment that is mobile, convenient, and pedestrian-friendly. In order to address a series of challenges of high-density urban development, this paper mainly analyzes the high-density urban development patterns in Japan, and Singapore regions. The study concludes that three-dimensional cities and transit-oriented integrated development are the key strategies to achieve this goal. This paper explores trends and sustainable practices in high-density urban development. This paper sorts out the development framework of high-density cities and discusses the construction characteristics and development trends of contemporary high-density three-dimensional cities from the perspectives of land use, green building assessment, traffic management, and public participation. This paper compares the focus of different measures in different regions, as well as the intensive development of public space and vertical greening measures, which have certain reference values for the sustainable development of high-density cities in China.

The Inter-Relationships of Territorial Quality of Life with Residential Expansion and Densification: A Case Study of Regions in EU Member Countries

High-density urban development is promoted by both global and local policies in response to socio-economic and environmental challenges since it increases mobility of different land uses, decreases the need for traveling, encourages the use of more energy-efficient buildings and modes of transportation, and permits the sharing of scarce urban amenities. It is therefore argued that increased density and mixed-use development are expected to deliver positive outcomes in terms of contributing to three pillars (social, economic, and environmental domains) of sustainability in the subject themes. Territorial quality of life (TQL)—initially proposed by the ESPON Programme—is a composite indicator of the socio-economic and environmental well-being and life satisfaction of individuals living in an area. Understanding the role of urban density in TQL can provide an important input for urban planning debates addressing whether compact development can be promoted by referring to potential efficiencies in high-density, mixed land use and sustainable transport provisions. Alternatively, low-density suburban development is preferable due to its benefits of high per capita land use consumption (larger houses) for individual households given lower land prices. There is little empirical evidence on how TQL is shaped by high-density versus low-density urban forms. This paper investigates this topic through providing an approach to spatially map and examine the relationship between TQL, residential expansion, and densification processes in the so-called NUTS2 (nomenclature of terrestrial units for statistics) regions of European Union (EU) member countries. The relative importance of each TQL indicator was determined through the entropy weight method, where these indicators were aggregated through using the subject weights to obtain the overall TQL indicator. The spatial dynamics of TQL were examined and its relationship with residential expansion and densification processes was analysed to uncover whether the former or the latter process is positively associated with the TQL indicator within our study area. From our regression models, the residential expansion index is negatively related to the TQL indicator, implying that high levels of residential expansion can result in a reduction in overall quality of life in the regions if they are not supported by associated infrastructure and facility investments.

ОРГАНИЗАЦИЯ АРХИТЕКТУРНОЙ СРЕДЫ ОБЩЕСТВЕННЫХ ПРОСТРАНСТВ В УСЛОВИЯХ СЛОЖНОГО РЕЛЬЕФА

The mountain landscape distinguishes the location of urban routes, the functional-spatial structure and layout of public areas from the design of an urban environment on flat terrain. This study examines the issues of rational use of urban areas in conditions of complex terrain using the example of the territory of the largest city of Chongqing, located in the central part of China. The research is based on an integrated approach, methods of urban planning analysis and functional-spatial modeling. Various aspects of the transformation of complex natural landscapes to expand public urban spaces and form their identity are analyzed using the example of public spaces in the structure of high-density residential development in Chongqing. The study identified the characteristic problems of the planning organization of public areas on difficult terrain (insufficient insolation, lack of green areas, non-standard location of transport infrastructure, irrational organization of pedestrian traffic, lack of public access to public areas, isolation and incoherence of public spaces, etc.). Functional planning models for the organization of public recreational spaces are proposed, which are promising for use both in areas of existing high-density development and for the development of undeveloped territories in the mountainous regions of China. Prospective directions for the development of public spaces in the Baixiangju residential area in Chongqing have been identified.

Towards a pattern language for green space design in high density urban developments

ABSTRACT In the inevitable high-density urbanization process, existing urban green space (UGS) design approaches are ineffective in creating more green areas and combining multidisciplinary design principles to provide balanced sets of ecosystem services (ESs). This paper proposes a systematic framework for UGS design in the context of high-density urban development, results in spatial patterns, a pattern language, that combines specific design principles with a wide range of complementary ESs suitable for high-density environments. Such design approach can create more possibilities for UGS provisioning, deal with the complexity in high-density contexts, and provides consistency at different scale for UGS designs.

Evaluating transit-oriented new town development: Insights from Seoul and Tokyo

This study evaluates 7Ds (density, diversity, design, distance to transit, destination accessibility, demand management, and demography) from a transit-oriented development (TOD) perspective for four large-scale new towns (NTs) in the suburban areas of Seoul, South Korea, and Tokyo, Japan. The analysis revealed variations in self-sufficiency and travel behavior based on these differences, leading to four main policy implications. First, Seoul’s NTs demonstrated high-density mixed-use development, promoting localized short-distance travel within these areas. This highlights the importance of encouraging high-density mixed-use development to foster commuting self-sufficiency. Second, Tokyo’s NTs feature housing development centered on rail transit, resulting in a greater utilization of rail transit modes. This emphasizes the positive impact of rail-transit-oriented development on sustainable mode choice. Third, demand management strategies such as firm-based subsidies and an integrated transit system were identified in the Tokyo and Seoul NTs, respectively. These strategies aimed to provide incentives for choosing public transit over private cars. Additionally, it is crucial to consider the relationship between NTs and their neighboring areas to prevent wasteful commuting resulting from continuous decentralization trends in jobs and housing. This study offers valuable insights for policymakers and planners by highlighting the significance of integrating TOD principles into NT planning and development.

New York’s super-slender towers and European slender high-rise buildings: differences in the urban context

The latest construction technologies have enabled the erection of very slender skyscrapers. This phenomenon is developing significantly in New York, but very slender high-rise buildings are also being designed on other continents. The aim of this paper is to characterize existing and planned slender European skyscrapers. The study examined the location of slender high-rise buildings and their relationship with their surroundings. It sought differences and similarities in the location of slender European skyscrapers within the urban fabric compared to American skyscrapers. The presented examples of slender skyscrapers in Europe illustrate the diversity of their locations, the character of the areas in which they are designed, and the buildings themselves. The analysis of their relationship with the surroundings revealed many differences compared to New York's super-slender towers, such as the presence of open space, location at significant distances from other buildings, and even location in landscapes dominated by nature. Only some slender European high-rise buildings are designed in high-density development, which may resemble New York's super-slender towers.

Intensifying Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland: Some Higher-Density Housing Outcomes After the Adoption of the Auckland Unitary Plan of 2016

Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland’s housing paradigm has been in a process of transition since the 1990s, following a radical overhaul of planning legislation intended to address the city’s continuing growth. Also driven by the imperatives of sustainable urban planning, the city has subsequently adopted a series of resource management policy revisions each designed to intensify the city’s urban form by increasing permissible density of housing development. The Auckland Unitary Plan (AUP) is the most significant of these revisions. Since its adoption in 2016, the city has gained more than 50,000 housing units representing all the standard typologies ranging from detached houses to apartments in high-rise buildings. The AUP’s purpose is to increase housing supply by reducing regulations without reducing other goals relating to sustainability of urban form. However, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland continues to suffer from a housing shortage. This paper explores some of the data collected in a study of ninety higher-density developments within the Metropolitan Urban Limit completed under the AUP regulations. Its conclusions note the success of quantitative objectives of current policies while questioning other objectives, including the aim to supply affordable housing, and the aspirational proposition that the regulations proposed by the AUP will achieve high standards of design quality.

Avoiding Man-made Disasters using Transit-Oriented Development (TOD)-Strategy: Case of Namma Metro, Bengaluru

The use of private cars and vehicles clogs the roads and leads to accidents, congestion and road rage which are man-made disasters. One of the most important urban planning techniques to avoid disaster and to develop livable, productive and sustainable communities is Transit-Oriented Development (TOD), strong transit infrastructure, diverse land uses, higher-density development, walkable urban design, bicycle-friendly amenities, affordable housing and creative parking management which are just a few of the many components that make up TOD. These elements support the transition from car-centric urban design to more equitable and sustainable community development. Zoning and land use regulations, public-private partnerships, transit enhancements, community involvement, design principles, economic development programs, affordable housing policies, green and sustainable design techniques and the creation of TOD-specific zoning districts are some of the tactics used to implement TOD. The goal of these tactics is to develop thriving, economically sound communities that are oriented around effective public transit networks. For successful implementation of TOD projects, a detailed study at the city level, area level and nodal level has to be carried out. In this study, two metro stations at MG Road and Indiranagar, Bengaluru, India are considered and have been studied at baseline level for checking and considering TOD implementation based on the scoring method. Scoring based on primary data, spatial data and a revised master plan of Bengaluru has been carried out. Both the stations have obtained a score of 80% and 88% respectively. The score indicates that both stations are likely to consider and implement the TOD at this nodal level.

REVIT SIMULATION APPLICATION IN EVALUATING FENESTRATION STRATEGIES TOWARDS ENERGY CONSERVATION IN MALAYSIAN INTERMEDIATE TERRACED HOUSES

With Malaysia’s population rising and rapid urbanisation, terraced houses were built to respond to new social and economic needs. The modern terraced house appeals to the demand for high-density development. However, with just two or three façades available for openings on the front and rear façades, these houses, particularly intermediate units, frequently lack natural ventilation, resulting in slow and inefficient air exchange throughout the house. As a result, adjustments on fenestration that functions as passive design solutions are necessary to increase internal thermal comfort and energy savings. This study aims to determine the various forms of fenestration placement in Malaysian terraced buildings and examine how these different types of fenestrations in terraced houses affect energy consumption and conservation. This study employs Revit modelling software to create a set of prototypes of intermediate terrace houses with different fenestration treatments. Building simulation is used to record findings of building energy performance based on the annual and monthly energy consumption of each prototype. This study found that the terraced home façade fenestration design significantly reduces energy consumption. It is anticipated that the finding of this study will benefit architects and designers better understand designing more ecologically conscious terraced houses by addressing internal thermal comfort through passive design.

Assessing Spatio-Temporal Variation and Associated Factors of Forest Fragmentation from Morphological Spatial Pattern Analysis and Geo-Detector Analyses: A Case Study of Xinyu City, Jiangxi Province of Eastern China

In the context of economic boom and climate change, monitoring the spatio-temporal dynamics of forest fragmentation induced by disturbances and understanding its corresponding associated factors are critical for developing informed forest management strategies. In this study, based on multi-temporal Landsat images acquired from 1999 to 2020, a SVM classifier was first applied to produce high-accuracy land cover maps in Xinyu City. Next, morphological spatial pattern analysis (MSPA) was implemented to characterize the spatio-temporal patterns of forest fragmentation by producing maps of seven fragmentation components, including the core, islet, perforation, edge, bridge, loop, and branch. Then, both natural and human factors responsible for the observed forest fragmentation dynamics were analyzed using the geo-detector model (GDM). The results showed that over the past two decades, Xinyu City experienced a process of significant forest area loss and exacerbating forest fragmentation. The forest area decreased from 1597.35 km2 in 1999 to 1372.05 km2 in 2020. The areal ratio of core patches decreased by 8.49%, and the areal ratio of edge patches increased by 5.98%. Spatially, the trend of forest fragmentation exhibited a progressive increase from the southern and northern regions towards the central and eastern areas. Large-scale forest core patches were primarily concentrated in the northwestern and southwestern regions, while smaller core patches were found in the eastern and central areas. Notably, human activities, such as distance from the roads and land use diversity, were identified as significantly associated with forest fragmentation. The interaction effect of these factors had a greater impact on forest fragmentation than their individual contributions. In conclusion, Xinyu City possesses the potential to further alleviate forest fragmentation by employing the regional differentiation development strategies: (1) intensive development in the northwest and southern regions; (2) high-density development in the western, northwestern, and southern regions, and (3) conservation development in the southwest, northeast, and east-central regions, thus aligning with the path of local social advancement.

Analysis of the impact and moderating effect of high-density development on urban flooding

Although previous studies have posited that the high-density development of urban buildings and infrastructure contributes to urban flooding, empirical analyses and in-depth investigations into the interaction factors have remained limited. This study aims to analyze the influence and moderating effect of high-density development on urban flooding. Thus far, various land-use and interaction factors related to urban development density have been explored. Subsequently, the urban watershed was selected, utilizing panel data 2002 to 2017, and employing the Tobit model for analysis. The analysis revealed that high-density development had an adverse effect on urban flooding and that the runoff characteristics of high-density development were not limited to those of impervious surfaces. The horizontal and vertical aspects of dense buildings and structures acted as sub-watersheds that increased the time to reach peak flow. Moreover, high-density development had a moderating effect in low-lying areas. The results of this study underscore the necessity of urban disaster prevention planning to consider the direct and indirect effects, as well as the runoff characteristics, of high-density development on urban flooding.

Transit Oriented Development for Airport Rail Link Stations

This research is aimed at investigating how each of the five factors in transit-oriented development (TOD) principles including 1) Land Use Density such as population density, employment density, household density 2) Land Use Diversity, 3) Station Design, 4) Station Access Distance and 5) Destination Accessibility affects the passengers decision in riding the Airport Rail Link (ARL) services. An interview survey of two hundred spatially stratified sample are conducted of which the responses are statistically analyzed. It is found that land use density, destination accessibility and station access distance are among the top influential factors affecting passenger decision choices on ARL that should be prioritized for further improvements. When considering the sub-factors of each main factor, they affect the passenger decision choice of regular and non-regular users in a similar pattern. In land use density perspective, the development should focus on selecting station areas that have potentials for upgrading into high-density development. In destination accessibility perspective, the development should focus on sufficient parking spaces for park and ride and also sufficient area for passenger drop point. In station access distance perspective, the development should focus on providing feeder transits for TOD stations. In addition, in station design perspective, the development should focus on building or improving footpaths linking to intermodal transfer facilities as well as those located within the station areas. Furthermore, the diversity of mix-use development should be considered in conjunction with the land use density development.

Studies on the Specificity of Outdoor Thermal Comfort during the Warm Season in High-Density Urban Areas

With the acceleration of urbanization in China, high density has become a significant feature of urban development. Although high-density development provides convenience, it also results in numerous environmental and climatic problems, such as the urban heat island effect, haze and extreme weather. These issues have reduced the comfort levels of the urban outdoor environment, led to increased energy consumption and had serious impacts on social development and the lives of residents. Improving the comfort of the outdoor urban environment is vital, especially in the current tendency for high-density urban developments. This paper focuses on a typical urban district in Shanghai, where we have gathered ambient meteorological data and human thermal sensation votes during spring and summer through monitoring and questionnaire research. Correlation analysis was conducted to examine the relationship between thermal sensation votes and comfort indexes (PET, UTCI). The findings indicated that the neutral PET during spring and summer was 22.30 °C and 24.55 °C, respectively, whilst the neutral UTCI was 18.75 °C and 26 °C, respectively, with the neutral temperature in summer being significantly higher than that in spring. Upon comparing the evaluation indices, it was found that the correlation between the UTCI and average thermal sensation votes was stronger; thus, the UTCI better represents people’s thermal sensation in the Shanghai area. Finally, regression analysis demonstrated that the acceptable PET range for 90% of cases during both seasons in Shanghai is between 25.0 °C and 32.1 °C, and the UTCI range is between 24.2 °C and 27.7 °C. This study presents theoretical criteria for evaluating environmental thermal comfort, laying the foundation for practical paths to optimize urban design for climate responsiveness in high-density urban areas.