I always felt the maxim of Vishan Chakrabarti “If you love nature, don’t live in it” was a fundamental principle for sustainability.

For this reason high-density mixed-use development is the domain where an architect/urban planner can make a difference. Mixed density can deliver an urban lifestyle by facilitating compact neighbourhoods with a sense of community, catering for family life, all within walking distance to green spaces, transport hubs, hospitality and cultural venues. The complexity gives rise to development challenges, including avoiding token responses to Country, navigating community and political aspirations, deliverable well-built and durable buildings and public spaces.

A few pet hates…isolated site control paranoia, short cutting the Discovery phase in the design development process where the high principles and vision should emerge, relying heavily on precedent images to sell a vision and finally the failure of future thinking in design, including adaptability strategies and understanding the impact on city design arising from imminent disruptions in mobility i.e. How can we design to allow people to choose to live with a car?