Why it’s time to give up on the Australian dream

Australians must move beyond fantasies of a freestanding house on a quarter-acre block and look to Asian new towns for a more resilient model of living.

Chief executive of the Asia Society Australia, Philipp Ivanov, says our metropolitan centres need to find a way to develop more sustainably so as to cope with ongoing environmental challenges.

“This century, this is something that Australia will need to deal with in a better way. Cities, particularly Sydney as the fastest growing and the largest city in Australia, will have to look at the Asian cities’ innovations and adapt some of them here,” he says.

“This means living in smaller spaces, whether that’s houses or apartments, and consuming less water and electricity. This is something that Asian cities have been dealing with for a very long time because they always had that challenge of constrained spaces and very high populations.”

According to AECOM’s forthcoming report – Housing Solutions for Global Cities – the lack of affordable housing is the chief threat for the long-term resilience of key global cities.

“In almost every major city in the world, workers at all income levels face mounting challenges to find decent and accessible housing. This, in turn, contributes to mounting challenges for employers trying to attract and retain talent,” the report says.

Ivanov says the projects outlined in Jigsaw City – AECOM’s Redefinition of the Asian New Townprovide important insights into how Asia has urbanised, and may provide solutions for Australia.

“As these regional economies have become more developed, the depletion of natural resources has become a primary issue to manage,” he says.

“The ever-growing local population has high expectations for improved, integrated lifestyles supported by government, real estate developers and local businesses. They demand high quality, and sustainable amenities.”

Streamlining regulations to make it easier for developers to build more housing is just one solution to the problem, according to Housing Solutions for Global Cities.

“Beyond simplifying regulations overall, cities are also beginning to embrace new, lower-cost building technologies like modular construction,” the report says.

For a more sustainable future, Australia must look to Asian cities for inspiration

“While still meeting basic health and safety standards, new building types can help cut costs and deliver new housing faster and more efficiently than traditional wood, concrete and steel- frame construction methods.”

The report also observes that cities like Sydney could investigate retrofitting existing housing stock to meet changing needs and predicts the rise of share-housing services like WeLive as the sharing economy grows. With this move away from the quarter-acre block, Mr Ivanov says projects examined in Jigsaw City provide a roadmap to successful urbanisation.

“There is a realisation that cities cannot grow indefinitely, leading to the idea of combining several new towns into one larger vision,” he says.

“We have challenges with climate change and the environment, but it’s clear that we can’t grow in width indefinitely. We have to do what we can to ensure that the space that we have within our current city limits is used effectively in a more sustainable manner.”