[+] Building Cities That Put People First

It’s a careful titration of urban design and planning that goes into the somewhat organic growth of Australia’s cities. But while the nation’s capital cities have contributed to a growing GDP, the health, wellbeing and fairness, or “urban equity” as Urbis director Kate Meyrick coined it, is actually in decline. Speaking at the most recent Urbanity conference , Meyrick said it was bad news for the growth of our cities . “It’s not OK, because there’s a really serious economic message that underlies this. Cities that are not fair, don’t prosper,” she said. “And that may not happen today and may not happen tomorrow but, over a 10-year cycle, you can see that as fairness becomes more of an issue, economic growth and development actually work at a slower and slower rate.” More than half the world’s population lives in cities. And this is expected to grow exponentially to 70 per cent by 2050. ▲ Urbis director Kate Meyrick during her keynote presentation at Urbanity 23. They are often held up as a shining beacon of modernity and the economic powerhouse of a nation. But the reality is with a concentration of people, there is also a concentration of problems. Urbis’s data weighs up six Australian cities across key metrics comprising housing sufficiency, green space, health, education, transport, employment, digital inclusion and cultural exclusion. Meyrick said it was not just about wealth distribution and housing. Inability to access green space, employment, education and transport were also significant inequalities within cities. It is something that resonates with another urbanist, Anupam Yog. Yog is passionate about creating cities and places that prioritise the health and wellbeing of their inhabitants and proposes a Conscious Cities Index as a way of measuring and reporting on this. Speaking ahead of his trip to Australian shores for the ULI Australia conference, Yog says our human condition and natural state is one of stress rather than wellbeing. People-first cities He believes cities have a role to play in serving their inhabitants and should be more responsive to their needs. “We know the environment impacts us emotionally, mentally and physically. What’s not articulated is how to make cities more responsive to this,” he says. “Our human condition and our natural state of being is one of stress rather than one of wellbeing. “Our animal brains have still not evolved from the fight or flight mode. We’re impacted by a whole range of pollutants, our natural state of being is stress which is why we seek time in nature. “And we really experienced that during lockdown.” ▲ Anupam Yog is presenting at the ULI Australia conference this month. Wellness is starting to permeate the built environment. The Urban Developer reported last month that the global wellness industry was forecast to grow to $US8.5 trillion by 2027 . But far from the salt walls, magnesium pools and meditation pods, Yog says the narrative of cities needs to change. “As an example, we all have to move from place to place, and through those transitions it’s about getting places faster,” he says. “What if we designed intentional pauses that invite people to take moments to pause and reflect during their commute and arrive at their destination feeling refreshed and nourished. “We’re going to flip that narrative around the stress of getting somewhere faster for the tens of thousands of people making that trip to work.” Financial and social imperative of healthy cities Health and wellbeing is listed as the third goal in the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals, and according to ARUP’s 10 Prioritities for Health and Wellbeing report, the built environment has its part to play in the health of a nation. ARUP lists the 10 priorities as: air quality designing buildings for user comfort understanding the impact of materials as pollutants data-informed decision-making road designs that encourage active travel green and blue infrastructure inclusion evidence-based planning decisions build inclusive cities optimise spatial planning for behaviour in built environments improving evaluation of health and wellbeing outcomes. The incorporation of nature-based solutions in urban design and planning in cities particularly, can have big impacts on the reduction of stress, depressions and other mental health issues, as well as social cohesion and promotion of an active lifestyle, according to the report. Yog says that nature should be considered part of a city’s infrastructure, similar to roads and transport. He believes a more integrated approach to defining urban places and their health and wellbeing equity can help to address public health and equality challenges in cities of the future. ▲ Blue and green infrastructure has been shown to cut the effects of stress, depression and other mental-health illnesses, and promote an active and healthy lifestyle. A key fundamental underpinning the development of buildings and cities is return on investment. Yog argues that the measure of success of a city is the health and wellbeing of its inhabitants. He says a city cannot create profitable outcomes without the city providing good outcomes for its citizens. “The places we inhabit impact us. We measure success according to return on investment, when really we should be looking at return on experience, or the lived experience, the wellbeing of inhabitants,” he says. “Long-term health of a community is ultimate success [and underpins] economic success. “The way we design cities … the consequences are profound. The pandemic has forced us to confront this. Places should serve our wellbeing.” Yog says neighbourhoods are designed with efficiency of use in mind, rather than access to open green spaces and shared community spaces. And his people-first urban design aspirations are very much aligned with the principles of a 15-minute city, which aims to create a walkable, liveable 15-minute microcosm that addresses social equity and inequality. “We have to change the conversation from efficiency and velocity to health and wellbeing. We are seeing evidence that this is starting to get on the agenda,” Yog says. “The pandemic accelerated the conversation but development cycles are long and there are lagging effects. “I’m not sure developers are leading the conversation but I think they should be. “We need to invent our way into this. We need to renegotiate how we co-exist with a social first mindset.” You are currently experiencing The Urban Developer Plus (TUD+), our premium membership for property professionals. Click here to learn more.

[+] Building Cities That Put People First

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