Fostering Belonging – Creating Communities Through Urban Design
The scope of communities that people belong to exists over varied dimensions and a range of scales. From sharing religion, culture or geographic location to collective skills and interests, the core of a community is rooted in union through common experience. The formation of such associations is naturally underpinned by the human emotional need to feel a sense of belonging; our identity is intrinsically linked to the groups that we emerge as members of. More than simply existing as an individual, the experience of being part of something greater – such as maintaining social ties, carrying on customs and reverence for connection to place – reinforces meaning within our lives. As Dr Hazel Easthope, Senior Research Fellow at UNSW Australia’s City Futures Research Centre, asserts, “connection is what we’re all looking for […] everyone wants to have a sense of home and to feel like they belong in their community.”
A sense of community is mostly felt internally, its warm feelings of kinship intangible, so urban design serves to connect through a tactile modality, sculpting the physical environments that influence our interaction with spaces as well as other individuals. Successful urban design shapes the collective encounters that give rise to prosperous, healthy and safe communities. Design outcomes have a tremendous impact on feelings of connectedness, with thoughtful urban design bolstering local growth and community development by encouraging ease of movement to allow for spritely contact between its users. “It’s fostered in houses that are open to the street, through having spaces where you can bump into your neighbours and where you can see your neighbours walking past,” reflects Peter Cotton of Mirvac Design.
If the basic principles of fostering bright, bubbling local communities are feelings of affinity and association, consideration towards the psychology and needs of individuals and groups must naturally inform the design process. Jan Gehl has worked extensively in shaping Australia and New Zealand’s largest cities since the 1990s. The Danish architect and urban design consultant believes in a people-centred strategy. “First life, then spaces, then buildings: the other way around never works,” he emphasises. A bottom-up approach that respects the fundamental requirements of its users is community-led design. This methodology is anchored in involving the people’s voices to be heard and involved in the planning and development of spaces they will occupy. An example of commitment to consultation is Melbourne’s Nightingale Housing. The not-for-profit social enterprise champions proactive engagement with its future residents, ensuring their ideas are integrated into the architects’ vision. Speaking on the Nightingale projects, Dr Katrina Raynor from University of Melbourne and Adrienne Kotler of Resilient Melbourne affirm that “involving people in meaningful decision-making about the future of their built environments can foster social cohesion and equitable communities, improving health and wellbeing outcomes.”
The arrangement of urban design elements should be strategic to offer optimal function for those who encounter them, with safety, access and inclusivity being key factors for a thriving community. With a strong focus on drawing people closer through shared amenities and facilities, green spaces, walkways and public transport ultimately cultivate community contact, collaboration and connection. “It’s been proven over and over that the quality of these relationships can determine how much joy your surrounds spark, and they can boost your wellbeing and longevity,” explains architect Jo Gillies, Director of Sydney firm Archisoul Architects. Encouraging of this is the global and local adoption of standards that support the promotion of health and integrating community wellbeing through design. Green Building Council Australia’s partnership with International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) sees a performance-based system, WELL Building Standard (WELL) used to certify elements of built environments that influence human health. Air, water, nourishment, light, fitness, comfort and mind health are features that are monitored in the design and construction of Australian communities.
Coherently organising the conduit to togetherness, urban design facilitates the movement of people – the ease and comfort of which is pivotal to community experience. Humans are inquisitive by nature, the inclusion of well-designed passages and spaces that offer feelings of safety and prompt exploration appeal to this innately childlike sense and do well to encourage adventure. Nataly Arevalo is an urban designer researching Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) at Swinburne University of Technology. “Our daily choices of where we walk, favourite places to exercise and habitual journeys demonstrate how connected we are to the design of our cities’ outdoor environments,” she tells. “We try to avoid certain environments that ‘feel like’ they are putting us at risk of certain types of crimes, or that make us feel fearful.” Welcoming and secure central gathering locations can be designed by leveraging the local assets of a place, such as open spaces, bodies of water, green areas or preserving sites of cultural or architectural significance. Designing perceived focal points enhances navigability and instils the importance of communal meeting places. The presence of easily accessible and recognisable spaces sees the vitality of communities come to light, affording users a discernible and safe haven to work, trade, rest and play. It is this union of shared existence through thoughtful design that promotes a true sense of togetherness.
Design speaks by generating an enriched sensorial experience, infusing enjoyment and creating connection. As we increasingly appreciate and understand the role of design in assembling a sense of community, it is apparent that urban planners, architects and designers hold the key to synthesising our human desire to belong into tangible systems and spaces. As urban planners weave the fabric of a society, architects, designers and builders embroider its detail with the finest of materials, resulting in a colourful tapestry that encompasses the constituents of a fruitful community. Like a carefully stitched embroidery, a well-designed community is a marvel to wonder at – a thing of vivid beauty that sees harmonious interaction between its elements, giving rise to a comforting sense of belonging.
