Counting on Quality: Centring Resilience in Housing Policy
The Victorian Government’s Plan for Victoria calls for over two million new homes across Melbourne and regional centres within 30 years. While planning reform and the media focus on quantitative outcomes of new dwellings, affordability and density, less consideration is given to the quality of new housing and its ability to deliver resilient homes and neighbourhoods.
This joint presentation addresses quality in housing in two ways: The Council Alliance for a Sustainable Built Environment (CASBE) presents a critical examination of resilience in the Victoria’s planning policy, followed by a presentation of best practice examples of denser housing models by the Victorian Chapter of the Australian Institute of Architects.
Resilience in the built environment is the ability to prepare for, adapt and recover from adverse events to sustain function and facilitate positive transformation toward sustainability and liveability. In this context, CASBE will discuss how regulatory and approval frameworks support and hinder resilience. Recent data and policy analyses will reveal how local governments are tracking against sustainability and liveability targets, highlighting gaps between ambition and implementation in areas such as energy efficiency, urban heat resilience and access to green infrastructure. Proposals for systemic reform will aim to empower communities and councils to deliver future-fit built environments that meet the SDG objectives.
Victorian architects will then summarise findings from their recent Density Done Well exhibition of 40 innovative Victorian housing projects. These models illustrate quality in the density conversation to offer effective, sustainable, resident-focused alternatives to the prevailing, unsustainable development models of high-rise towers and urban sprawl, characterised by low-density housing, car dependency and lack of walkable amenities and public transport. By identifying policy shortcomings and presenting built examples of effective solutions, this presentation aims to foster evidence-based policy development towards a resilient Victoria.