Fixing the housing crisis means radically rethinking our cities

Housing crises are becoming more pervasive, so we must look at how to build and live in urban spaces – not just seek to build more.

Housing crises are affecting much of the developed world. In Australia, Britain and the US, property markets characterised by insufficient supply and surging prices force ever greater numbers of people into rental traps. It is therefore understandable that policy makers are seeking to find solutions to the problem. It seems that the main question asked in these attempts is what should be built and at what scale; however, a more pertinent question might be how to build.

This is not simply a question of style: it raises questions about living spaces, urban planning, liveability and even wellbeing. We need to reconsider our approach towns and cities with a view to nurturing a healthier and happier society. Simply building more houses would not on its own achieve this, and the US is a fine example of the importance of making firm decisions on how we orient our urban areas.

It is difficult to imagine society without cars as they have been ubiquitous throughout all our lives. This is especially true of America, a country that rethought the way it approached urban planning throughout the twentieth century during the automobile revolution. During the post-war period, America rapidly expanded its highway system, building infrastructure across the country to incentivise car use, while simultaneously shirking public transport infrastructure.

The problem with this approach was that it had little concern for future urban development. Car-centric developments in America are so vast that at least 5% of urban land is taken by car parks, and a further 1% used by roads. There are eight parking spots for every car in America, and in Los Angeles, a city faced with a housing crisis, there are more parking spots than houses.

To see exactly why this becomes a problem, one need only look at Atlanta’s notorious highway system, or just about any Midwestern town. Cities and towns, intended to be living spaces for people, end up servicing the needs of automobiles instead. America, despite its sprawling landscape, simply doesn’t create space for its people, only its cars. It has some of the widest highways in the world which, incidentally, make traffic congestion even worse due to a phenomenon called induced demand. These factors mean that Americans walk much less than many of their European counterparts.

Why is American car-centric urban planning important? First, as aforementioned, it discourages walking, as Americans must travel farther and across areas marbled with wide roads. This is important because higher levels of walkability are inherently linked to better mental and physical wellbeing, and also come with a host of economic and social benefits.

Secondly, it simply doesn’t incentivise the construction of beautiful buildings. Americans often travel to Europe and fall in love with its beauty and cleanliness. Much of this contrast is due to the density Europe can create, given it was not designed around car use. City blocks are not dominated by wide roads and car parks, and so housing (such as the type seen in Barcelona) is connected with urban street developments and robust public transport. This is a small example of how considering the bigger picture of urban development and liveability can improve all aspects of civic life.

More space for people, centred on mixed-use urban spaces, dense areas and walkability, would do wonders for the beauty and quality of our urban areas. It is easier to achieve this vision in Europe, as it has the advantage of being home to towns and cities that were designed well before the invention of cars, and thus lend themselves to human-scaled spacing. The late Roger Scruton viewed urban areas as community-led spaces for good living, rather than mere roads with houses lining them. He showed that there was an appetite for this sort of planning revolution in England and beyond. Scruton’s work culminated in his involvement on the Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission, which is a must read for anybody seeking to fix Britain’s housing issue.

Housing crises are becoming more pervasive, so we must look at how to build and live in urban spaces – not just seek to build more. Building houses is important, but how we live together in our communities is something we must also consider if we are to fix our cities and towns.