Designing for Density

greater energy efficiency, better utility and infrastructure provision, revitalisation and regeneration of inner-urban areas, potential for social inclusion, and better economic performance in the form of innovation, ideas exchange and efficient labour markets.

Rode notes an overall trend of de-densification in Asian cities over the past 50 years, though the starting points were relatively high: according to a 2018 paper led by European Commission researchers, Asian cities are approximately four times as dense as European cities, which themselves are twice as dense as North American cities. Rode observes that a key driver of this regional change has been ‘the opening to international markets and the introduction of an American approach to city making that includes highways, motorisation and sprawl.’ There are a few exceptions to the regional trend of de-densification: in recent years, both Singapore and Hong Kong have become denser.

To be sure, high-density settlements are not inherently positive. At the city scale, Rode notes lack of biodiversity, increased traffic and negative effects on mental health, not to mention the urban heat island effect, as potential downsides to be considered. Social reformers have long targeted overcrowded living conditions among the poor as an area of concern; shoddily constructed or neglected high-rise development can lead to tragedy, and social unrest has been attributed — among other factors — to intolerably cramped living conditions.

At the building scale, in addition to the fundamental requirements for adequate internal space, structural soundness and appropriate maintenance, high-quality design

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Sarah Mineko Ichioka