PLACE RELATIONS
Engaging with the community around you is the
key to feeling truly ‘at home’ where you live.
H
umanshaveafundamentalneedtoenjoy
an affinity with the people and places
around them. And we expect our streets,
neighbourhoods and towns to deliver.
“Connectioniswhatwe’realllookingfor,”says
Dr Hazel Easthope, senior research fellow at
UNSWAustralia’sCityFuturesResearchCentre.
“Everyonewantstohaveasenseofhomeandto
feel like they belong in their community.”
Theenvironmentyouliveincaninfluencethe
way you feel about yourself and whether or not
you’re comfortable and happy, says Dr Easthope,
andthatverymuchunderpinsyourwellbeing.
“It’snotjustaboutsaying‘Hi’toyour
neighbour,”shesays.“It’sabouthowsayinghello
toyourneighbourmakesyoufeel.Yoursenseof
communitydevelopsfromthewayyouexperience
places,evenifthatexperienceofplaceisonlyfelt
at a subconscious level.”
Connection to the community around you can
beasourceofgreatpersonalhappiness,saysJo
Gillies, architect and director of Sydney firm
Archisoul Architects. “It’s been proven over and
overthatthequalityoftheserelationshipscan
determinehowmuchjoyyoursurroundsspark,
andtheycanboostyourwellbeingandlongevity.”
Communityisalsoakeypartoftheliveability
equation: enjoyment of your home and its
surroundscomesnaturallywhenyoufeelyou‘fit
in’whereyoulive.Throughitsdesignahousecan
help facilitate good connections with the
people around you, says Gillies. “A sense of
communityisforgedwhenyourhomefeels
integrated into the street and neighbourhood, and
you’reclosetogreenspaces,schoolsandshops.”
Enabling this sense of belonging is especially
importantwhendevisingnew,master-planned
communities, says Mirvac Design’s Peter Cotton.“Weputahugeamountofthoughtinto where to
place the shops and amenities, where the parks
will be. Homeowners should be able to comfortably
walkfromtheirdwellingtotheirnearest piece
of open space.”
Liveabilityextendsfarbeyondthewalls of your
houseandoutintoyourneighbourhood, he says.
“It’sfosteredinhousesthatareopento the street,
throughhavingspaceswhereyoucan bump into
your neighbours and where you can see your
neighbours walking past.”
Oneofthe10guidingprinciplesbehind the
OnePlanetLivingsustainabilityinitiative,
supportedbyMirvac,isateneton‘culture and
community’.Thispromotestheinvolvement of
people in shaping their community and creating
anewcultureofsustainability.“Themore people
feelanownershipoftheircommunity spaces, the
better,” says Cotton. “Meaningful social interaction
occurs, and that’s what everyone wants.”NEIGHBOURHOOD
WATCHDemographer Bernard Salt shares his
thoughts on the changing notion
of community:“Up until the 1980s, there was a
great sense of community in
suburbia. This was forged mainly
by the women who spent their days
there, raising children, and who
knew their neighbours. That
doesn’t happen as much now.
It’s not uncommon for the house to
sit empty for 12 hours while
everyone is at work.
Today, community doesn’t
necessarily refer to a physical
neighbourhood. The people you
regard as your community you’re
more likely to know through your
interests, from playdates and
activities like cricket and ballet, or
your workplace. Social media has
also changed the way we perceive
community; for some of us, it is
possible to satisfy the need for
connection online.
Because our sense of community
doesn’t extend out from the home
any more you could argue that
there isn’t the need for our houses
to be as open to the street. In the
future we might live in homes that
function like a tortoise shell: they
would appear as a concrete fortress
with a roller door; the 4WD goes
in, the doors roll down and life
happens behind those walls.
Picture-perfect Edwardian homes
and Victorian terraces were all
about showcasing wealth. Today
we worry about being robbed, so
we display our wealth inside our
homes. The gleaming benchtops
and gooseneck taps are status
symbols that say ‘Look how
successful we are’. That’s another
reason we need to feel we’re part of
a community: what’s the point of
being well-to-do if no one can see
your wealth?”
A survey of H&G readers found that 55% regarded
neighbourhood preference as the most important factor
when deciding where to build or buy a house. It out-rated
land size (49%) and proximity to public transport (39%).H&GH&G DESIGNDESIGN