How Can Housing Developers Build Healthier Communities?

By Author: Bradley Weiss
Total Articles: 272
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Research shows that certain features such as green space can add significant value to a property. But there are other features that can add even more.



The goals of strategic land investment are to buy UK land, achieve local authorities’ approval for a use change and then to build something, typically residences or commercial structures. In the UK, the housing shortage makes that an important function relative to the common good as well - the greater the housing stock, the lower the prices to buy or rent.



But homes and even businesses are not simply brick-and-mortar structures. These are places where people live and work and transact business. They are places that human beings (and perhaps household pets) spend many, many hours of their lives. Their environments affect their sense of wellbeing and their physical and mental health. As this is often visually obvious and intuitive, the value of a built property can go up if the surroundings are attractive ...
... and conducive to healthy activities.



Increasingly, the strategy taken by builders is to incorporate healthy features into developments or to advocate for them in public spaces. According to London estate agents Marsh & Parsons, an attractive garden, a roof terrace or close proximity to green, open spaces such as a park can add a 20% premium to property. The firm reported that those homes lacking this green access are harder to sell during the summer months, presumably because the deficiency is more apparent then.



But developers and investors - such as property fund managers who sometimes start from scratch, taking empty land and constructing new communities in those places - could look beyond simply green spaces and outdoor access. Urbanist designer Claire Mookerjee provided a checklist in The Guardian in 2015, providing five urban design mistakes that are detrimental to healthy-living communities. They are:



• Too many fences and barriers - A concern for safety and security has led to walling off areas that has the additional effect of limiting walking. Mookerjee simply implores designers to prioritise “bustling shared spaces that are safe and encourage people to walk.”



• Inattention to what residents want - People who live in communities often have a better idea of what shared amenities are a priority and therefore would be used. A traditional method for gathering those ideas is a “charrette,” a community brainstorm of thoughts and preferences, however that phase of design is often overlooked. Web-based alternatives allow for people to describe if and where they want running or cycling paths, for example.



• Failure to provide extra services that foster healthier living - Basic buildings, pavements and streets do not a community make. Mookerjee encourages development managers to consider incorporating car-sharing schemes, bike storage space, co-operative food growing projects along with developed properties, particularly in multi-unit developments.



• Inauthentic green spaces - In many cities building developers will add green space as an afterthought, resulting in small, isolated patches “better suited to dogs doing their business than going for a walk or exercising,” says Mookerjee. Instead, networks of green spaces that holistically approach communities, providing true walking and cycling venues, are preferable.



• Unfriendly design - Mookerjee concludes that healthy lifestyles are not entirely defined by physical exercise. Rather, she notes that friendly, human-to-human interaction is vitally important and can be encouraged by design. Specifically, she prescribes front doors to open onto streets, balconies with a social distance of up to 10 metres, front porches and steps, and safe common play areas for children - all to make for sociable neighbourhoods.



One question that developers and their investors may ask is, “how much land must be dedicated to these community amenities, and would that not be cost-prohibitive?” An answer to that question might be found in a study conducted in Perth, Australia (Francis J, Wood LJ, Knuiman M, et al. Quality or quantity? Exploring the relationship between public open space attributes and mental health in Perth, Western Australia, Social Science & Medicine, 1982), which found that “public open space quality within a neighborhood appears to be more important than quantity.” In other words, a nice small park might be all that is necessary in some circumstances.



Investors in any type of community will always look to maximise the return on their investments, and that can happen in a variety of ways at different times. But such investments must be considered carefully and are best done with the objective perspective of an independent financial advisor.