Search results

The purpose of this paper is to present a case study of the legislative creation of high rise and master planned communities to provide a common basis for future discussions, research and international comparison in the field.

The case study addresses relevant legislation in the Australian state of New South Wales. This has been a model for that in other jurisdictions, including Singapore, the UK and the Dubai International Financial Centre. The legal terms and their significance are discussed in a way that is comprehensible to both lawyers and non‐lawyers.

The legislation is shown to have achieved a range of outcomes that are not possible in ordinary Anglo‐Australian property law. For example, it has created governing “bodies corporate” which regulate communities with private by‐laws and facilitates the continued enforcement of detailed architectural guidelines imposing a master plan.

The research describes the legal framework for the creation of communities in a single jurisdiction. More research is needed on the specific way that legal structures hinder or promote satisfactory community living in this and in other jurisdictions.

The paper will aid discussions between a range of academics and practitioners working on high rise and master planned communities. It will assist communication between lawyers and non‐lawyers, providing a clear description of the significance of legislation in the creation of communities. It will facilitate transnational discussion, as differences in legal systems and inconsistent terminology are a barrier to effective communication and common understanding.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the nature and extent of psychosocial need fulfillment experienced by resident strata title owners and to shed light on factors that detract from residents’ lived experience in the strata title context.

An interview schedule that draws on theories of psychosocial need fulfillment was developed. In total, 16 home owners and three strata title managers were interviewed. Interviewees were sourced from three master planned communities located in South East Queensland, Australia.

The majority of owners reported high levels of need fulfillment and neighbourhood satisfaction. Primary sources of dissatisfaction appeared to be related to body corporate committee governance issues.

The study's findings are subject to the widely acknowledged limitations of small sample based interview research and the study's qualitative orientation signifies that it suffers from the compromised generalisability and potential of selective and subjective reporting of observations.

The findings suggest a need for greater societal appreciation of factors associated with living in a strata titled community. Recommendations are provided for facilitating the transition to strata title living and reducing sources of resident dissatisfaction.

The paper uniquely explores residential satisfaction from a psychosocial needs perspective. There is a paucity of related research reported in the literature.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the pricing of vacant lots in master planned golf course communities (GCCs) over the period of 2000-2016. The authors compare the longitudinal pricing behavior of different lot types during this economic cycle and examine the causes of the property bubble and subsequent deterioration of the business model with the arrival of the Financial Economic Crisis (FEC).

The authors construct spatial hedonic models for three master planned GCCs in Pickens County, South Carolina and use interaction dummies to examine the pricing of different types of vacant lots before and after the FEC.

The authors find that there is a collapse in value for interior lots in the GCCs compared to interior lots in the county. As interior lots comprise over 50 percent of inventory in a typical master planned GCC, this loss of real estate value threatens the viability of such communities in the aftermath of the FEC.

The research results inform real estate investors, real estate developers, current homebuyers and potential homebuyers of the impacts of the FEC on master planned GCCs and some of the risks associated with such developments.

This is the first paper the authors are aware of that indicates the financial viability of master planned GCCs is associated with the pricing fragility of interior lots during cyclical markets. While demand for premium quality lots suffers, there is a collapse in demand for interior lots during the crisis.

The purpose of this study was to explore strategies used by developers of master-planned housing development projects in Victoria, Australia, for obtaining certification under the Urban Development Institute of Australia’s (UDIA) EnviroDevelopment (ED) sustainable development certification programme. To be awarded ED certification, a development must demonstrate that it meets the assessment criteria within at least four of the six ED “leaves”. These leaves relate to its performance in terms of energy, water, materials, waste, community and ecosystems. This study explored how developers make choices regarding sustainability features they build into the planning, design and management of their developments to gain the leaves needed for ED certification. Having this certification is valued by developers as it can be used to demonstrate the sustainability credentials of their developments to potential house buyers, the validity of which is backed up by a trusted independent non-profit organisation (UDIA).

The study sought to quantify the preferential weightings of nine developers in selecting ED “leaves” and the strategies they use for meeting the assessment criteria needed to obtain selected ED leaves. This was done using a novel data collection and analysis method, the analytical hierarchical process (AHP), which relies on respondents, in this case, developers of ED certified development projects, making pairwise comparisons between choices of different development factors associated with the different ED “leaves”.

The most highly preferred ED leaves were found to be community, energy and ecosystems. “Community facilities” and “on-site transportation” were the two most highly weighted factors associated with the community leaf. Energy, the next most preferred leaf, was most highly weighted on “saving on operational costs” for the consumers (home buyers). Here consumer demand factors seem to be driving preferences. The ecology leaf was the next most preferred, with “existing site conditions” being the most highly weighted factor for this leaf. For sites that already contain significant areas of indigenous habitat, such as wetlands, selecting this leaf would seem to be an attractive, and potentially lower cost, option. Existing ecologically significant natural areas that are preserved, and where necessary enhanced, can be used for marketing purposes and serve in fulfilling planning open-space contribution requirements. The developers were more indifferent to the water, waste and materials leaves; however, the water leaf was rated slightly higher than the other two and was most strongly associated with “recycled water” and opportunities for “water conservation”, another example of demand factors driving preferences.

The results of this study reveal the preferences of a small sample of developers in terms of how they weigh different factors in making decisions about acquiring sustainability certification for residential master-planned development projects through the UDIA’S ED programme. The findings provide insight into the types of decisions developers make in the process of seeking ED certification, which includes considerations of site characteristics, costs, predicted effectiveness of different interventions and usefulness for marketing and other factors in terms of which ED leaves to pursue and how to acquire them to gain ED certification. The study also tested the AHP method as a methodological tool for addressing this question. Modifications in how data are collected using the on-line survey can be made to allow the method to be more easily used with larger respondent sample sizes. Collection of more focussed data elicited from respondents with specific areas of expertise, for example, specialists in energy, water, landscape architecture and planning, ecology and other relevant areas of knowledge, should also been considered.

The paper aims to improve consumer awareness of the complexities of community living. It does this by clarifying how living in a managed community is different from a “traditional” neighbourhood; and identifying matters that can become disputes.

The paper builds on research by other authors into strata scheme disputes by examining recent Queensland cases.

Many disputes appear to result from a lack of understanding of the complexities of community living. Matters that should be able to be easily resolved are therefore escalated to formal disputes.

The paper considers law and cases from Queensland. The types of matters considered, however, are relevant for any managed community and therefore the research is relevant for all jurisdictions. The research will be of particular interest to jurisdictions looking to boost living density by increasing the development of managed communities.

The research will assist in consumer transactions by providing guidance as to the matters to be considering prior to moving into a managed community. More informed decision making by prospective residents will lead to a decreased likelihood of disputes arising.

The paper is an up‐to‐date consideration of the issues arising from community living. It highlights the benefits arising from increased consumer awareness of the complexities of community living and the potential for consumer education to reduce the number of disputes.

This exploratory research paper aims to examine the social interactions within multi-owned properties (MOPs) in suburban Brisbane, Australia, and the influences these have on “sense of community” (SOC).

A constructivist grounded theory research approach is adopted, utilising qualitative research methods of 17 in-depth interviews across four suburbs.

Respondents of this research do know others within their MOP, although these are surface-level social interactions rather than deep social ties. Social interactions are influenced by concerns for privacy, resident homogeneity, tenure type and the safety and security of the built environment. A disconnect exists between marketing and reality when respondents discuss an SOC. Development of an SOC is also constrained by the strata and community title legislation that enables MOPs ' existence. Self-governance measures exclude the majority of MOP residents from engaging in community participation, through bodies ' corporate and decision-making practices.

The research design limited external validity to other groups and settings. It was also challenging accessing residents and MOP owners for inclusion in this research.

The research is significant in addressing the knowledge gap of social relations within MOPs. MOPs will be a key driver for the development industry in coming decades, so it is important to understand the lived experience of residents to ensure a liveable and sustainable residential product for the future.

The “Village” model has become an emerging, community-based, social initiative to help older adults age in place. This study aims to examine neighborhood social cohesion (NSC), or social connectedness and quality of life, from the perspective of village members.

A mixed-method evaluation was used to examine two Florida villages, a master-planned village (FV1) and a diverse neighborhood village (FV2). Both are full members of the National Village to Village Network.

The quantitative and qualitative data provided complementary and deeper understanding. Quantitative findings showed that FV1 members scored higher at NSC, and qualitative findings further confirmed that village program social activities were critical to building connections, especially for those who have lost loved ones and were single.

Findings should be interpreted considering the predominantly white racial makeup and affluence of village participants.

Findings point to the importance of NSC as older adults age and suggest that programs should prioritize activities that strengthen social connectiveness.

This is one of the first mixed-methods evaluations examining NSC and quality of life among village participants.

The purpose of this paper is to discover the operational character of gated communities in Malaysia.

This paper is based on a small case study conducted in Iskandar Malaysia, an economic development region located in the southern part of Peninsular Malaysia. In the case study, 12 housing developers were interviewed, involving 32 gated communities altogether. The investigation covered the identification of the governing document used in operating a gated community, the operational purposes and scopes, the arrangement for collection of maintenance fee, and the internal governance within the gated communities.

From the analysis, it was found that two types of gated communities exist in the case study areas, namely the strata gated community scheme, and the gated community scheme (GACOS). The operational mechanism for the former is through a set of rules enforced by the government. Meanwhile, the latter is based on the arrangement set up either by the developer, where legal agreement is applicable, or through the consensus among homeowners. However, despite these differences, both mechanisms share the same intention, that is to operate the gated community based on cooperative-collective sharing arrangement.

Despite the vulnerability of GACOS enclosure components, the case study revealed that the number of GACOS is still bigger than the strata gated community scheme. Since this perspective is lacking in this paper, it is suggested that more studies are conducted to explain the reasons behind the indicated phenomenon.

The most important contribution of the paper is to highlight the importance of gating experience that is heavily influenced by the local policy setting to determine the survival of a gated community; thus, demonstrating how different they are from each other.

The purpose of this paper is to consider the impact of urban design master plan projects in the Australian context of Brisbane. It first reviewed the general ramifications of urban design projects on property markets. The local impacts of two major projects were then analysed and compared. A limited statistical analysis was conducted to investigate whether local price growth could be attributed to the projects or resulted from generally buoyant market conditions.

The paper adopted a largely descriptive approach. It first reviewed the theoretical outcomes urban design projects should deliver. It then looked at the specific details of two distinct urban design projects in Brisbane and descriptively assessed their impact on adjacent local housing markets. It then compared relative aggregated location price growth to isolate discernable project price effects. Finally, the paper anecdotally selected some master designed properties and considered whether their prices were excessive compared to average location rents.

The paper found conflicting evidence to support the view that urban design projects significantly lifted aggregated location prices. On the one hand, aggregated project location price growth was relatively muted. Other generic demand factors and local differences in housing stock quality swamped project effects. On the other hand, at the individual property level, there was some anecdotal evidence to suggest premiums were paid for urban designed homes. The paper indirectly suggests, then, that any price impacts of urban design projects are subject to rapid distance decay.

The paper conducted only a limited historical review of revitalisation and urban design. A systematic individual, project‐adjacent, property price analysis was not conducted. Rather, the aggregated dwelling price analysis and anecdotal rental review suggested, albeit inconclusively, that the effects of urban design are spatially restricted to the immediate vicinity of projects.

Investors should note likely price impact of planned infrastructure projects is spatially restricted to the immediate environs of the project.

The paper combines an overview of urban design and property market analysis.

Kuala Lumpur (KL) emerged as the capital of the newly independent Federation of Malayan States in 1957 with a population of 316,000. Over the next 60 years, the city expanded into a major urban regional conurbation. It now covers an area of 2,790 km² and has a population of around 7.7 million. In the last two decades, market-driven, fast-track development, underpinned by road infrastructure has accelerated the city's urban transformation. Especially over the last two decades, a spate of urban redevelopments, including commercial and retail complexes, specialised centres, industrial parks, educational complexes and residential estates have transformed the Kuala Lumpur Metropolitan Region (KLMR) beyond recognition. KL is only one example among many of intensive Southeast Asian property-led urban development, fuelled by demographic pressures and global capital inflows that transformed the regional natural and built environments. The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of globalisation, neoliberalism and property-led development, on the built form and socio-cultural legacies of the KLMR.

The major aim of this study is to determine how neoliberalism and property-led development have impacted the urban form and structure of the KLMR. The methodology applied in this study concentrates mainly on the use of qualitative research methods. The major qualitative research methods include qualitative analysis, field surveys and observations, primary and secondary data collection. The approach in this study is to exemplify the shift from government-sponsored development in the post-independence period to the current globalised-private oriented development.

The major findings of this research suggest that the global, property-led mode of urban development, whilst superficially successful, undermined traditional and tropical-climate urban landscapes. It also bequeathed many urban or property level problems, including traffic congestion, air pollution, planning governance and building management issues. The paper outlines narratives for a more balanced and sustainable mode of urban development, which is more in tune with local culture and climatic conditions.

This paper provides a deep insight analysis and evaluation of KL's growth from a small town into a global metropolitan region where property-led development dictates the rules and determines the character of the city.