Australian cities need a diverse range of flexible housing types to cater for the needs of all groups to tackle the housing crisis, says QUT property economist Dr Lyndall Bryant, who leads a panel at QUT's Design for a Just World Symposium tomorrow and Wednesday (19-20 November).
Dr Bryant, from QUT's School of Economics and Finance, said the Redesigning the Future of Housing panel would look at how housing design can build communities in social and supportive living spaces.
"We will discuss broader design factors, such as the need for a wider range of dwellings to be built across our community, in the cities close to services, with different cohorts in mind such as short-term crisis or transition housing, as well as 'forever homes' in social, affordable and supported housing," Dr Bryant said.
"We have a huge backlog of people waiting for social housing – as of June 2021 165,000 people were on the wait list and rising housing and rental costs are adding to more people at risk of homelessness.
"The fastest growing cohort at risk of being unhoused is women over 55 who have rented most of their life, are on a pension and who are being priced out of the rental market.
"The panel will look at planning approvals and promoting YIMBY (Yes in my Backyard) to allow multi-family social housing with communal spaces such as shared play areas or laundries, and safe outdoor living spaces, built in established areas close to schools, shops and public transport.
"The Queensland Government has made a blanket allowance for a secondary dwelling to be built on residential lots and extended approvals for manufactured home parks, which are an affordable form of housing because developers maintain ownership of the land.
"It's about creating diversity in housing types, so that there are a range of affordable options, for those who need them. It's also about designing functional communities, that provide support to those who need it."
The panel comprises leaders in the social housing sector:
- Michael Rayner AM, Director, Blight Rayner Architect
- Tom Alves, Head of Development, Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI)
- Natalie Rayment, Executive Director at Wolter Consulting Group, Co-founder and CEO of YIMBY Queensland and Member of the Queensland Government Housing Supply Expert Panel
- Nicola Middleton, Design Manager, BHC – Creating Liveable Communities
The panel discussion is part of the two-day symposium co-convened by QUT Design Lab and QUT Centre for Justice.
It features two keynote presentations – one on co-designing for ageing futures by Professor Helen Manchester from the University of Bristol, UK, and a second by Michael Rayner AM of Blight Rayner Architects, and Victoria Parker, from Lady Musgrave Trust speaking on The Haven Project – Reflections on the co-design of transitional housing for at-risk mothers aged between 18-24 years, and their children.
QUT Design Lab director Professor Evonne Miller said design was both a reflection of and a force for shaping our cultural, political and economic systems.
"Those systems are marked by inequalities and injustices, whether as economic inequities, gender biases or environmental destruction," Professor Miller said.
"It is a reminder that design, at its best, is a tool for social transformation."
QUT Centre for Justice director Professor Rowena Maguire said recognising housing as a human right was fundamental to achieving housing justice.
"This perspective ensures that everyone, regardless of their socio-economic status, has access to safe, affordable, and adequate housing," Professor Maguire said
"The symposium will feature researchers who are pushing the boundaries of both design and justice theory, as well as industry professionals who are integrating these ideas into practice in real time."
The symposium
