Are we investing in amenity when our communities really want to be connected to people and place? Placemaking specialists Bec McHenry and Mike Day think so.
Research suggests that social capital – the measure of our connection to other humans – is in decline.
Technology may be part of the problem, as it eliminates those incidental connections – at the supermarket checkout, the bank or the library – that we once took for granted. But a host of other factors also create the conditions for loneliness: dispersed and separated suburban settlement patterns which contribute to a breakdown in family, decreasing household sizes, employment mobility, and less interaction with our neighbours among them.
Should we be surprised that the Australian Psychology Society says one in two of us feel lonely at least one day a week?
Small talk is often dismissed as superfluous, but researchers say chatting to our neighbours about the weather does make us happier. In his study of Chicago commuters, behavioural science professor Nicholas Epley found those who make small talk on their journey – even when they are forced to do so – are much happier than those that do not. Epley says people can improve their own wellbeing and that of others “by trying to create connections where one might otherwise choose isolation”.
How our places enhance or erode our social capital is an issue that keeps Bec McHenry up at night. Founder of place activation and management consultancy The Space Agency, McHenry says our approach to development is creating the conditions for social isolation.
She says the development industry is in an “arms race” to “shove in as much amenity as they can” into new projects with little thought of human connections. McHenry points to the exclusive rooftop terraces in apartment developments which remain empty while “everyone is down at the ground floor wine bar or walking to nearby neighbourhood activated destinations where there’s atmosphere and community”.
McHenry is equally sceptical of exclusive gyms and “Japanese meditation rooms that few people use, because no one wants to rake a sandpit on their weekends”.
“Exclusive space is not where people meet. And you can’t put exclusive amenity in your building while you try to promote an inclusive community – because you get the opposite effect.”
Suburban developments don’t avoid McHenry’s critical gaze either.
“All the amenity in big houses – like home theatres, coffee bars, pool rooms and outdoor kitchens – mean people have no real reason to leave the house. It’s very isolating. Australians think they want all this amenity, but what they really want is quality, activated public places and more vibrant main streets.
“Dog parks are another strong solution for loneliness – everyone loves dogs. We are working on a pilot at the moment where we are turning vacant land flagged for development into a temporary dog park, and one of our main goals is to improve social connection and reduce loneliness.”
Mike Day agrees that compact, connected, mixed use walkable urbanism strengthens social capital. The co-founder of RobertsDay leads place activation in new town and urban renewal projects around Australia. And he’s determined to “reinstate the timeless art of neighbourhood design”.
“People are craving a sense of place and a sense of belonging. You can’t get that in a building. You get that in a walkable neighbourhood,” Day explains.
“House sizes have doubled in the last 20 years – from 120 to 240 sqm – as we’ve internalised many functions which used to occurred at the heart of the neighbourhood – we’ve incorporated the coffee bar, home theatre and swimming pool.”
Experts have warned that social isolation could be more harmful to human health than smoking 15 cigarettes a day. One study published in the journal of Social Psychological and Personality Science in 2015 found that loneliness was “consistently linked to low self-esteem, reduced life satisfaction, anxiety and depression”.
What’s the solution? Day challenges the property industry to think as much about “shaping the human habitat” as we do about conserving the natural habitat.
Human beings have always known how to build places that enhance social capital, as the Greek Agora, Roman Forum or English town square attest.
Day says we don’t have to look far afield for examples, and points to the “cherished timeless inner-city neighbourhoods” found in Australia’s capital cities and regional cities. He also applauds newer communities like Ellenbrook in WA, where “seven walkable neighbourhoods with diverse housing types for all ages and incomes, including social housing, are framed around a transit ready mixed-use town centre”.
McHenry, too, says good developers are delivering great product, despite the challenges of building character in new places. She says activation helps inject atmosphere into a community and create a real sense of place – something that exclusive amenity is unable to do.
“The outcome we are looking to achieve through ground floor activation is an inclusive vibe. This is what makes places ‘sticky’. But activation isn’t just retail. You can’t put a commercial space in the bottom of every building – you need to strategically combine both amenity and activation,” McHenry adds.
Day says the secret to shaping the human habitat is found in a tried-and-true formula: “transit-based, compact, connected, mixed-use and walkable urban settings”.
“We separated all our land uses to get people away from the ‘satanic mills’ of the industrial revolution. But for the five thousand years before this, we used these principles to lay out walkable neighbourhoods. We know how to do this.”