Controversial plan for 'pencil tower' highlights future of major Aussie city
Five inner-city apartments could be built on the narrow 271 square metre piece of land.
There are plans to build a six-storey apartment building on a narrow block of land the same width as a parking bay in an inner-city suburb, and unsurprisingly there has been some pushback by locals concerned about the idea. However one urban planner has told Yahoo News it could be a sign of what's to come in the future.
Blueshore Development Group has proposed building a five-apartment project in Alexandria in Sydney's inner west, and the 271 square metre site would provide much needed housing in the already densely populated area.
The idea to squeeze the building into the small lot has been proposed in the name of providing increased housing, but critics say it really only scratches the surface of the increased supply that is needed, as only five units will be created. There are also the typical NIMBY concerns that the taller building will cause shadowing for those already in the area and it will set a precedent for further builds, changing the landscape of Aussie cities.
The City of Sydney council is currently reviewing the proposal. The construction cost is estimated to be $5.8 million, the Daily Telegraph reported.
While urban planner Liam Davies agrees the building in question is "probably not going to make any discernible effect" on the housing crisis, pointing out the fact they will be marketed as "luxury" apartments, he did say the "nuanced" approach may be something we start seeing more of in our more densely populated cities.
"The issue is, either we build up or we build out, and our cities have been building out for decades and then become big, sprawling masses. So I've got a lot of sympathy for the idea that we build up," Davies from RMIT University told Yahoo News.
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The lack of housing continues to be a major issue in the country, and cities are becoming larger and larger as development is built further and further out from the CBD. Davies explained there is simply no other option, other than what we're currently doing now, but to build up.
However, it needs to be in a considered way, he cautioned.
"What we really want is to concentrate more housing around areas that have higher amenities, so that means good access to shops, good access to public transport, good access to parks," he said. "If we just put density everywhere, we also get really bad outcomes."
Many builders are turning to once-industrial locations where land can be bought and redeveloped into housing, with places like Mascot and Green Square in Sydney successfully doing this.
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However, with a lack of land in sought-after locations, "pencil towers" could be introduced to at least do something with the small blocks of land currently dotted around high-density suburbs that are not in use.
"The really critical problem that we're hitting up against here is we don't have available large lots... if we look in our inner city areas, what they've got is a lot of small lots. So what you see is smaller-scale development," he said.
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