Understanding Infill: Towards New Policy and Practice for Urban Regeneration in the Established Suburbs of Australia's Cities

A major challenge for urban Australia and its fast growing cities in particular is the provision of an adequate supply of appropriately located, affordable and sustainable housing across a range of dwelling types. A related challenge involves attempts by the metropolitan planning agencies in the capital cities to restrict residential sprawl and deliver more compact cities. Residential infill in the established suburbs has emerged as one of the principal urban planning policies designed to address this dual challenge. Infill targets, typically in the 50–70 per cent range, are now integral to all capital city planning strategies. This article examines the current pattern of infill housing development in Melbourne, Australia's second largest and fastest growing capital city. It highlights the existence of two infill segments—brownfields and greyfields—each with distinctive patterns of development that need to be better understood if urban regeneration is to figure significantly in delivering more liveable and sustainable cities. Current urban policies, programmes and practices are lacking an effective response to redevelopment of the greyfields.     

Boomburb downtowns: the next generation of urban centers

A new trend is emerging in rapidly growing suburbs, or “boomburbs.” While boomburbs are primarily still suburban in look and feel, some are beginning to develop downtowns and other quasi-urban centers. As the nation's preeminent urbanizing suburbs, boomburbs have enormous potential. Based on site visits and a review of existing plans provided, this article develops a boomburb downtown typology using a criterion of a center's scale (large or small), setting (infill or greenfield), and proximity to rail. The move toward more compact development in newly emerging centers of fast growing suburbs is a hopeful trend that should be encouraged and augmented. Urbanizing suburbs are one important key to remaking the American metropolis based on smart growth principles.     

ACHIEVING MIXED INCOME COMMUNITIES THROUGH INFILL? THE EFFECT OF INFILL HOUSING ON NEIGHBORHOOD INCOME DIVERSITY

This study analyzes whether residential infill development promotes mixed income communities in the Orlando metropolitan area from 1990 to 2009. Compact development and more diverse housing options realized through infill can alleviate spatial segregation and promote social diversity in communities by attracting diverse new residents into the neighborhood. However, as infill housing reflects neighborhood conditions, the impacts of infill housing on neighborhood income diversity vary depending on neighborhood types. The results show that infill development is only positively associated with neighborhood income diversity in gentrifying communities. Therefore, a more direct guideline or incentive program for infill, which can ensure a broad range of housing prices in infill development, should be implemented to promote mixed income communities through infill.     

Promoting an urban renaissance in England and the Netherlands

Recent government policy documents in both England and the Netherlands make reference to the need to promote urban living and working—an ‘urban renaissance’. Promoting urban living and working offers various potential benefits such as improving urban vitality, reducing the need to travel and using land more efficiently. Nevertheless, promoting urban living and working is still problematic and there is widespread belief within Europe (especially in northern Europe) that ‘non-urban’ areas (that is to say areas outside large urban centres—suburbs, small towns and more rural areas) are more attractive in terms of a better environment, lower levels of crime and a greater sense of community for example. In addition, there is a variety of obstacles to promote urban living and working which currently reduce the chance of achieving such a renaissance. This paper gives an overview of recent national policies in England and the Netherlands that attempt to promote urban living and working, focusing particularly on policies for mixed-use development as one means of achieving an urban renaissance. Policy obstacles are identified and discussed, and potential ways of overcoming these obstacles are proposed.     

The post-suburban era comes to Richmond: City decline, suburban transition, and exurban growth

The Richmond, Virginia region is an example of a metropolitan area that has entered the post-suburban era. We define the post-suburban era in terms of inner suburban population loss and relative income decline, suburban employment increase, suburban outcommuting reduction, exurban population and income increase, and farmland conversion.The post-suburban era involves the maturing of many suburbs. Maturing suburbs usually increase employment within their borders. The necessity for suburbanites to commute to central cities declines. However suburban maturity also is associated with diminished capacities. Relative income decline in numerous suburbs is the most prominent feature of diminished suburban capacities. Ironically, the stage for relative suburban income decline is set by suburban job increases which expand the commuting zone 20 or 30 more miles into rural territory, greatly enlarging the zone of exurban population growth.     

明代北京西郊佛寺园林景观与游赏活动考略

北京西郊地区既有起伏的山林,又有平坦的田野,水泉丰沛,自然条件优越,明代在此修造了大量的佛寺,大多具有园林属性,呈现出丰富的景观面貌。本文通过历史文献考证,对明代北京西郊佛寺园林的分布以及经典实例的景观构成进行梳理,在此基础上对其造园理景手法与游赏活动作进一步的探析。     

Comparing apples with apples: how different are recent residential development patterns in Portland and Charlotte?

This paper compares Portland in Oregon and Charlotte in North Carolina to determine if recent residential development patterns in each area are as different as their existing policy framework and regulations might suggest. Using spatial data sets from local sources, we first perform a cluster analysis to develop a typology of census block groups based on built‐environment characteristics. This derived typology is coupled with data on single‐family residential construction for both study areas to assess the degree of similarity. We find that Portland and Charlotte present very different residential development outcomes in recent years. More specifically, single‐family residential development has occurred most frequently in the inner‐ and middle‐ring suburbs in Portland and most heavily in the urban fringe areas in Charlotte. Potential explanations of the observed difference are offered.     

日本SI住宅的节能措施

提高支撑体的耐久性，增强填充体变更的灵活性，延长建筑寿命是实现低碳住宅的前提条件，提高保温的性能和寿命以及住宅设备的效率是实现住宅节能的重要措施。     

The Politics of Poverty Deconcentration and Housing Demolition

Concentrated poverty is the organizing framework for much housing policy at the federal and local levels. This article examines the effect of concentrated poverty on the politics of housing and community development at the local level. A case study of the Minneapolis‐Saint Paul metropolitan area suggests that in high‐poverty neighborhoods efforts to deconcentrate lead to political battles reminiscent of the urban renewal era in which poor and minority residents fight to save their housing and communities from slum clearance. For central cities, the deconcentration of poverty as a policy objective introduces a new set of criteria against which community development efforts are judged, making the development of subsidized and affordable housing more difficult to initiate or sustain. At the regional level, concerns about the concentration of poverty can create new alliances of resistance to affordable housing and even justify demolition in older, inner‐ring suburbs.     

Domestic violence in the urban fringe

Police call data for domestic violence incidents in the city of Brisbane were used to further explore the locational disadvantage thesis. It was hypothesised that the supposed additional burdens and stresses on disadvantaged families living in the outer suburbs may be reflected in significantly higher rates of reported domestic violence. Using an index of relative socioeconomic disadvantage and employing Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), this research shows that significantly higher rates of reported domestic violence occur in the inner suburbs relative to the middle or outer suburbs of Brisbane. This finding adds further doubt as to the magnitude of locational disadvantage impacts on outer suburban low income family households.     

Mechanical properties characterization of different types of masonry infill walls

It is remarkable, the recent advances concerning the development of numerical modeling frameworks to simulate the infill panels’ seismic behavior. However, there is a lack of experimental data of their mechanical properties, which are of full importance to calibrate the numerical models. The primary objective of this paper is to present an extensive experimental campaign of mechanical characterization tests of infill masonry walls made with three different types of masonry units: lightweight vertical hollow concrete blocks and hollow clay bricks. Four different types of experimental tests were carried out, namely: compression strength tests, diagonal tensile strength tests, and flexural strength tests parallel and perpendicular to the horizontal bed joints. A total amount of 80 tests were carried out and are reported in the present paper. The second objective of this study was to compare the mechanical properties of as-built and existing infill walls. The results presented and discussed herein, will be in terms of strain-stress curves and damages observed within the tests. It was observed a fragile behavior in the panels made with hollow clay horizontal bricks, without propagation of cracks. The plaster increased the flexural strength by 57%.     

Place of Residence,Party Preferences,and Political Attitudes in Canadian Cities and Suburbs

Abstract: This article examines the degree to which divergence in voting behavior and political attitudes between inner cities and suburbs in Canadian metropolitan areas can be explained by place of residence. As of yet, there has been very little research done on this topic in Canada. Logistic regression models derived from the 1965, 1984 and 2000 Canadian national election surveys confirm that Canadian inner cities and (particularly, outer) suburbs are diverging, and place of residence has become increasingly important in explaining this divergence. Over the study period, residents of inner cities in Canada became more likely to vote for parties of the left and to hold attitudes that would be considered on the left of the political spectrum, while suburban residents were increasingly likely to vote for parties of the right and to hold attitudes on the right of the political spectrum. The research suggests that in Canada, as in the US, the place and context of suburbia is a factor in the shift to the right. This has implications for the future direction of welfare state policy.     

A decade of change in inner Sydney

Abstract

Over a ten year period two inner Sydney suburbs, previously very different soci-economically, had become increasingly similar. Gentrification had operated much later in Redfern than Paddington, resulting in both a spatial and temporal continuum in the inner city in terms of socio-economic characteristics, land use and resident attitudes to development.     

Domestic violence in the urban fringe

Abstract

Police call data for domestic violence incidents in the city of Brisbane were used to further explore the locational disadvantage thesis. It was hypothesised that the supposed additional burdens and stresses on disadvantaged families living in the outer suburbs may be reflected in significantly higher rates of reported domestic violence. Using an index of relative socioeconomic disadvantage and employing Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), this research shows that significantly higher rates of reported domestic violence occur in the inner suburbs relative to the middle or outer suburbs of Brisbane. This finding adds further doubt as to the magnitude of locational disadvantage impacts on outer suburban low income family households.     

Residential relocation and sustainable urban form: Statistical analyses of owner-occupiers' preferences

This paper reports on analyses of the residential preferences of a sample of owner-occupier households moving house in the Cardiff region of Wales. These analyses were designed to examine the acceptability to relocating households of more sustainable residential alternatives, involving higher density living in mixed land use areas particularly in redeveloped dockland, inner urban and city-centre locations. The findings offer little comfort to those advocating urban intensification or compaction policies. City-centre services are a substitute for land for only a few. The dominant preferences remain, as they have been historically, for semi-detached and detached properties with their own private gardens in suburban areas. These preferences are further reinforced if households have young children or comprise persons of retirement age. The conclusion addresses the scope for achieving more sustainable suburbs.     

住宅设计的多样化对应手法——日本从住宅标准设计到支撑体住宅

分析了日本住宅设计中居住要求多样化的设计对应手法,阐明支撑体住宅是实现住宅多样化对应的一种有效手法,并通过对支撑体住宅的典型实例NEXT21的分析,进一步明确了住宅支撑体与填充体的区分条件,明确了住宅支撑体设计的问题与课题。     

Immigrating,Assimilating, Cashing in? Analyzing Property Values in Suburbs of Immigrant Gateways

Assets like properties determine opportunities. Many immigrants have begun to bypass cities and move straight to suburbs. Until the recent house price crash, suburbs had been perceived as locations where appreciation rates were high, but this perception might no longer hold true. Not many studies have focused on suburban house prices with regard to race, ethnicity, and nativity. This study fills the gap in terms of nativity. This study uses data from the 2000 US Census and the 2005–2009 American Community Survey to perform regression analyses to analyze immigrant gateways as delineated by Singer (2008) with regard to median values of owner-occupied housing units and the factors that influence median values, while also differentiating between inner cities and suburbs. Results show that there are differences in terms of values and appreciation rates among suburbs of immigrant gateways, indicating different economic integration patterns.     

Adelaide's aged population: Changing spatial patterns and their policy implications

Abstract

The number of older persons living in Adelaide's middle and inner suburbs increased significantly between 1971 and 1981. Siumultaneously, many inner suburbs experienced a decline in the number of older residents, though old people continued to make up a large proportion of their total populations and the inner areas commanded a disproportionate share of resources for the aged. This paper examines, with the aid of two local case studies, the nature and causes of these changes, and analyses their policy implications.     

Cost comparison of infrastructure on greenfield and infill sites

Planning policy in most Australian capital cities aims to divert development from the fringe into established inner urban areas. A fundamental logic underlying this policy of land recycling is that State and Local governments are challenged financially to provide appropriate standards of infrastructure and services in greenfield locations. This paper explores the range of infrastructure provision issues and seeks to identify the actual costs of provision in different locations. Three case studies in metropolitan Adelaide are used to explore the cost factors for developers and government. The study highlights the complexity of analysing the infrastructure cost of different developments which arises from variable record keeping and accounting practices. Nevertheless, the study is able to draw conclusions about the relative costs of infrastructure provision in different locations and reinforces previous studies that have demonstrated the higher costs of infrastructure on the fringe as opposed to infill. The estimated infrastructure costs for the infill development case study at Bowden are shown to be approximately one third that of both greenfield and renewal areas of the Playford Alive project on the urban fringe.     

Parameters affecting the fundamental period of RC buildings with infill walls

In this study, the effects of selected parameters i.e. building height, number of bays, ratio of area of shear walls to area of floor, ratio of infilled panels to total number of panels and type of frame on the fundamental period of RC buildings were investigated. In general, the fundamental period of RC frames are determined by a modal analysis, by discarding the effect of infill walls on the total mass and rigidity of the structure. 189 building models with selected parameters were generated and analyzed in 3D using a finite element method. Due to the nonlinear behavior of infill walls, an iterative modal analysis was used to determine the fundamental period of models. It was found that RC frames with infill walls had a shorter period, about 5%–10%, compared with RC frames without infill walls regardless of whether they had shear walls or not. The presence of shear walls also led to a reduction in the fundamental period, about 6%–10%, between models with and without infill walls. The fundamental periods obtained by an iterative modal analysis were also compared with current code predictions, which are based on measurements taken during earthquakes on real buildings. It was seen that the current code equations under-predict the fundamental periods of the models from 2% to 47%, depending upon the model parameters. A new equation, which was a function of the selected parameters, was also proposed for predicting the fundamental period of buildings, based on results of this study using multiple linear regression analysis. The proposed equation gives a better estimate of fundamental periods, compared with the code equations.