Density, Facilities and Form

Clanricarde Gardens, Kensington & Chelsea 1067 Habitable Rooms per Hectare (HRH) (834 gross)

Higher density developments can deliver more sustainable towns and cities, offering a high quality of life whilst minimising resource consumption

The social, economic, transport and environmental benefits of high density include:

• Improves viability of and access to community services
• Enables more and better integrated social housing
• Reducing costs of land acquisitions and site infrastructure
• Increasing energy efficiency and the ability to be orientated for passive solar gain
• Reduces car travel and parking demands

Factors in designing appropriate densities

• Focus higher densities on urban centres to support services such as transport, schools and shops
• Vary the density profile – across neighbourhoods and large scale developments
• Ensure buildings, streets and places are of a human scale, are stepped up or down to neighbours and include high quality landscape to soften perceptions of place
• Ensure high density does not mean smaller units
• Consider how development may grow over time to enable further intensification