Why are there so many Apartments Here ? Or … 40 Steps to Higher Density in Sydney

There’s a lot of apartments in Sydney these days and everyone in charge talks about building more and more.

But, interestingly the urban planning strategies that were put in place to increase densities all failed to meet their objectives and targets.  So, we could (and should) have more apartments.  That sounds good to me.

I posted about a great summary of planning approaches in Sydney last month (see Planning to Fail … A Short History of Urban Densification in Sydney). 

Now I’ll highlight the 40 steps that got us to where we are now (decade by decade).

Pre War

1.  The dense built form of the nineteenth century changes to low density suburban development

2.  Motor cars enable longer travel distances

1940s

3.  Sydney’s first strategic plan (the County of Cumberland Plan 1948) proposes more compact urban spread which doesn’t happen as Sydney grows

1950s

4.  Sydney keeps growing wider and flatter

1960s

5.  Sydney Regional Outline Plan 1968 continues earlier approach and assumes very little (if any) population change

6.  Allows 3 story flats in residential areas

7.  Population booms

1970s

8.  OPEC oil crises in 1973 and 1978 creates pressure on less travel and densification

9.  Whitlam’s post 1975 ‘New Federalism’ limits capital to NSW governments for infrastructure which goes to coal and aluminium sectors instead

10. Reinforces policies that reduce public infrastructure (road, rail, open space, etc) costs

1980s

11.  Regional Environmental Plans for dual occupancy in 1980 and 1981 did not promote much development

12.  Replaced with policy targets of 12,000 medium density dwellings per year for Sydney in 1983 (at the time it was actually 7,554 dwellings)

13.  Dual occupancy policy was revisited in 1987 by widening blocks it applied to

14.  Increasing opposition to medium and high density development by suburban residents and councils who refused developments and/or implemented restrictive Development Control Plans

15.  The 1987 housing price booms sees property prices double in 2 years due to immigration to Sydney and housing shortages
16.  Affordable housing emerges as a policy issue

17.  Metropolitan Strategy 1988 proposes concentrated zone development

18.  Town Houses and Villa Houses Policy 1989 replaces the 1982 strategy proposing re-zoning by councils to allow more medium density

19.  Local councils resist rezoning and only limited changes occur

20.  At it’s peak multi-unit approvals represented 34% of new dwellings in 1998 and 35% in 1989

1990s

21.  Limits to sewage run off stops development in the Hawkesbury-Nepean area

22.  Green belt concerns stop development in the South-West corridor

23.  Pyrmont-Ultimo targeted for higher density because of the concentration of government owned land in City West Plan 1992

24.  Control of planning under City West Plan centralized to state government and community consultation occurs

25.  Federal Government’s Building better Cities Programme announced in 1991

26.  Metropolitan Strategy 1995 adopts Victorian targets of 15 dwellings per hectare for Greenfield development (in 1996 new development was only at 10 dwellings per hectare)

27.  New Labour government in 1995 ends dual occupancy and town house and villas development policies

28.  Councils asked to prepare (by September 1996) urban densification strategies but most don’t do so

29.  Landcom directed to sell outer suburban holdings for redevelopment and to acquire and amalgamate inner city land

30.  Green Square, Newington and Rhodes targeted as high density development zones

31.  Sydney CBD development grows under local council’s City Living Policy with 3:1 floor space ratios for residential towers

Post 2000

32.  Ongoing conflict between state planning authorities and local councils with mixed results (councils win in Balmain, Kur-ing-gai and Leichhardt and government wins in Paddington, Rhodes and Green Square)

33.  Premier Carr launches campaign about apartment design with SEPP 65 – Design Quality of Residential Development 2000 and Residential Flat Design Pattern Book 2001

34.  by 2001 55% of all new dwellings were attached

35.  In 2002 and 2003 more price rises occurred due to the lack of new Greenfield housing land

36.  Another Sydney Metropolitan Strategy 2005 is released that continues urban consolidation but also plans for new suburbs accommodation 160,00 dwellings

37.  Significantly higher density along Parramatta Road and Redfern-Waterloo doesn’t occur

38.  Gentrification trends with inner city and city ring suburbs drives prices and quality up .. but keeps dwelling numbers down

39.  Rising interest rates and the global financial crises slows development in 2009

40.  First home owners incentives in 2009 and 2010 artificially keep the high density development active

And, now a draft new Sydney Metropolitan Strategy has been released to set the agenda to 2031.

So, it’s a sad story of attempts since the mid 1960s to get high and medium density development all over Sydney that have led to some significant development but failed to meet targets at almost every step due to local opposition and political pressure.

Will it be any different in the next decade and will Sydney achieve it’s planning objectives ?

Francesco …