Think beyond basics in new high-rise apartment developments

As land prices in premium urban areas approach the absurd and premium housing prices breach the million-dollar price tag, new developments are literally aiming for the sky. Sky-high apartment blocks towering high above our wildest imagination are slowly munching up space in places previously reserved for bungalows.

Where pristine vegetation once hugged inconspicuously designed structures blending into the environment, now monstrous towers defying the natural environment are taking prominence. Unfortunately, the gigantic structures growing out of our desperation for housing in crowded cities seem to cater for only one aspect of our needs. While housing is a basic need, the full compendium of human needs is far more complex and diverse. As high-rise monstrosities resembling each other like a mass of stalagmites racing to suck minerals from the ground emerge, they not only rob our neighbourhoods of beauty; they suck out many functionalities. For one, social amenities that made our neighbourhoods whole and easy to live in are disappearing.

While many good thoughts go into making homes out of the space in the towers, not much has gone into other conveniences. The idea of packing hundreds if not thousands of families in a few kilometre square of space may be economically sound for the developers. However, not much is done to ensure rich lives for the tenants by including convenience stores, gyms and relaxation spaces. The fact that natural vegetation has to go to make space for the towers does not mean green spaces cannot be included in developments.

For every few thousand square metres of housing, it is possible to include requirements for green recreational spaces. As home buyers pay a premium for housing, the top price should include not just indoor living space but also outdoor recreational areas, exercise rooms and the convenience of shopping for a few things within the living complex. These healthy living areas are not a waste of space since they will pay for themselves. Buyers can mint a premium by providing quality amenities for tenants and others. They will also ensure essential services remain accessible to tenants and within the neighbourhood.

Of particular concern should be access to schools within high density housing areas. Cramming hundreds of families in a given locality but hoping to provide schooling to their children in a different locality is not just unfair to the children but also for the localities providing schools. This makes competition for places in schools higher and inevitably pushes costs up. It should be noted that while the primary target home buyer may be sufficiently liquid to pay a premium schooling, these type of developments also attract low wage workers. It is not surprising to find slums nestled on public land or other contested spaces nearby.

What follows is a host of unplanned developments including affordable schooling for the low wage workers in these contested spaces. Our failure to plan for all contingencies becomes the magnet for unplanned developments with all the attendant risks. For one, the unplanned settlement serving a high-end catchment typically becomes a custodian for criminal activity targeting the broader area. What was intended to be an escape for select families becomes a magnet for crime. Incidentally, a major omission in nearly all these developments is integration with existing security infrastructure. Investment in closed circuit television and other modern tech devices is not sufficient deterrence for criminals knowing only a lightly armed guard stands between him and fortune.

Also, while we have acres of space in the form of outwards facing walls and windows, these face the elements but harvest nothing from them. There is ample space to harvest solar energy to service some of the common needs in the development. This includes energy for water pumping, lighting common areas and the general security lighting. There are also acres of space for water harvesting that can go to make the green spaces thrive or even alleviate water demand for activities like cleaning, car washing and the sewerage system. With in-house energy generation, comes the opportunity for recycling of the same waters. The alternative is to dump all this newly collected water into the public drainage systems which, for the most part, lack capacity to absorb the large volumes. It is not surprising therefore that the slightest rains lead to flooding in the streets. Unscrupulous landlords often take advantage of the flooding to offload raw sewage from septic tanks into the streets. Then the supposedly top dollar housing development becomes a health hazard.

While looking to address housing demands, the focus should be on building for all needs. We should take advantage of falling prices of solar power installation to make our development more livable. We should also focus on the other needs of tenants and look to develop a community, not just foxholes for each. By imaginatively including new features in the developments we not only make the spaces more livable but also create quality jobs within them. Essentially, this means some of the new high-rise developments should be mixed use to cater for social amenities. This is not a new concept, what is new is making the consideration for a multi-storey living area. The necessary arrangements can be made to isolate shared areas from the rest of the activities in the buildings. Let us be bold and think beyond basics in the new high-rise developments.