A booming population, forecast today by the Treasury, will cause conflict between the need for affordable housing and the importance of sustainability, says one academic.
The Federal Treasury has today raised its prediction for the size of Australia’s population in the mid century to 35 million, seven million people more than it forecast two years ago.
The pressure on future governments to cope with environmental and infrastructure burdens will be more significant than expected. But it could also be a boon for architects as the need for cleverly designed, inner city housing burgeons and the focus also narrows on sustainability.
The booming population will provide a discord between the need to provide affordable housing and the importance of sustainable features, said Diego Ramirez-Lovering, programme leader for Monash University’s architecture course.
The “crucial issue” is how to develop smaller, denser dwellings that are sustainable and affordable, Ramirez-Lovering said. “It’s not easy, because sustainable measures do increase the cost, such as photovoltaic cells or water tanks, so what can you do to look at those things cohesively,” he said.
The federal treasurer Wayne Swan has said that while the increase in population will present Australia with “an economic challenge” it will also provide opportunities. And some of those opportunities may be for architects.
“It’s possibly a very good time for architects,” Ramirez-Lovering told Architecture & Design. “One of the things that architects are good at is dealing with these complex situations of different pressures. Architects have a huge role to play as pressures increase to make housing smaller, particularly in infill areas, because it’s not easy. You need the skill to somehow respond to all these pressures of price point and difficult urban conflict situations,” he said.
“There is absolutely an important role for architects.”
