Helping governments and communities resolve housing density disputes

An inaugural 2-Day Workshop  16-17 July 2012

What if we could achieve our sustainability and housing density goals without causing community unrest, dissatisfaction – even uproar? Could communities respond positively to density increases under the appropriate conditions? Dr Wendy Sarkissian believes all of that is possible. But we must understand more about the human psychology and the psychology of housing to be effective.

Griffith University is proud to sponsor the inaugural two-day hands-on workshop at with social planner, author and commentator, Dr Wendy Sarkissian, MTP, LFPIA. She will be assisted by Dr Jason Byrne, Senior Lecturer, Griffith School of Environment

This workshop is for community leaders, local and State government planners and other professionals, developers and others who want to help communities come to grips with the complexities of housing density. And to help them address why it is such a contentious feature of the Australian planning landscape today.

It will provide an understanding of why community members are expressing such concerns about increases in density in urban and rural areas and why housing is such a ‘hot-button’ issue for many people.

We need to appreciate why governments must continue to campaign for increased housing density. It’s as though these two initiatives are at opposite ends of a spectrum. Yet they are connected by the very concerns that seem to place proponents of density increases at loggerheads with community members.

Caring

The issue that unites them is caring. Governments who care about the future of communities are alert to the many signs that automobile dependence and urban sprawl are expensive and ecologically unsustainable artifacts of a bygone era. We can no longer afford low-density suburbs. (Actually, we never could but we thought we could.)

Similarly, community members who care about the future of their communities are concerned that clumsy and ill-considered initiatives will make neighbourhoods unliveable cauldrons of noise, traffic congestion, parking problems. They will have no environmental quality. Some even say: ‘the slums of the future’.

So, if everyone cares, where’s the problem and what is the secret?

A key to understanding these conflicts (occurring in our communities today) is to understand more about housing. It’s not merely ‘product’, as some developers say. It’s more than a ‘commodity’ as economists would say. For some, it’s everything: a haven, a nest, protection, security… many qualities that have little or nothing to do with density, tenure or whether one’s name is on the mortgage document…

Meanings of home

Home is a deeply archetypal concept. It’s complicated and that’s partly why people’s responses to a threat to their housing often get so very ‘complicated’. Our Homing Instinct is a deep-seated desire to protect what is personal, precious and ‘home’.

Aims of this course

The course aims to provide an understanding of basic principles and practical tools to enable students to begin to address community engagement to increase housing density.

It will provide a foundation for deeper inquiry into housing density, social planning and design and community engagement. The approach will be illustrated lectures firmly grounded in evidence-based research into housing, social design and community engagement and hands-on exercises. It is designed for external students, especially practitioners but will also be open to those at Griffith University. The format will be both informative (illustrated lectures of case study examples) and hands-on (exercises to strengthen participants’ skills).

Course coordinators

The course will be taught by Dr Wendy Sarkissian, a social planner and author. She holds a doctorate in environmental ethics and is a Life Fellow of the Planning Institute of Australia. She is co-author of eight books on community engagement and a classic book on housing design, Housing if People Mattered (1986).

Dr Jason Byrne

Dr Jason Byrne is a Senior Lecturer in the Griffith School of Environment.  His research expertise is in urban nature parks and greenspace planning, equity and fairness in planning, open space and healthy cities, ecological modernisation and sustainability, and climate change adaptation and urban resilience. Current research projects include urban greenspace and climate change adaptation in China and the Gold Coast.

Dates and times

The course will be delivered over two days (16 and 17 July 2012) at the Gold Coast campus (building G31, Room 3.18/19), starting at 9 am and finishing at 5 pm. Lunch and morning and afternoon tea will be provided.

Tuition fee

The tuition fee for the two-day workshop is $1000 (GST inclusive). Enrolment will be limited to 40 participants.

Closing date for registrations is 2 July 2012.

Further details or to register:

Merrill Bowers
Administration Support Officer, Griffith School of Environment
Building G31, Room 3.02A, Gold Coast Campus, QLD 4222
Phone: +61 (07) 555 27722 Email: m.bowers@griffith.edu.au

Flyer

To download a flyer about the workshop, click here:

Homing Instinct workshop flyer

To contact Wendy Sarkissian

or contact Wendy Sarkissian on 0402 966 284

or wendy@sarkissian.com.au