This book argues that the mid-rise way of urban living is an essential component of growing cities, demonstrating that the economics of this form of development are better than that of terrace houses or town houses. It begins by examining successful historic precedents of this housing type, such as the tenements of Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, Barcelona and New York and successful mid-rise housing in London. The book then discusses reasons for the relative lack of contemporary mid-rise housing developments, including planning legislation, and the perception that it is a dull and uniform building type. It brings together and analyses a wide range of award-winning international contemporary examples by leading architecture firms, looks at the importance of location, the need for urban placemaking, visual interest and design diversity and mixed use precincts, and highlights the advantages, including demographic diversity, urban density, sociability and reduction of car use.

It is widely assumed that the ¿dense vertical city¿ is more sustainable than the ¿dispersed horizontal city.¿ This concept has certainly been a large factor in the unprecedented increase in the construction of tall buildings globally over the last few decades, especially in the developing world. The concentration of people in denser cities ¿ sharing space, infrastructure, and facilities ¿ is typically thought to offer much greater energy efficiency than the expanded horizontal city, which requires more land use, as well as a higher energy expenditure in infrastructure and mobility.Though this belief in the sustainability benefits of `dense¿ versus `dispersed¿ living is driving the development of cities worldwide, the principle has rarely been examined at a detailed, quantitative level. Studies to date have been mostly based on large data sets of generalized data regarding urban-scale energy consumption, or large-scale transport patterns. Crucially, there are very few studies that also consider a ¿quality of life¿ aspect to urban vs. suburban living, in addition to differences in energy use patterns.Chicago, subject city of the research, is uniquely positioned for a study exploring density vs. sprawl from a sustainability point of view. The birthplace of, and center for innovation in tall buildings, Chicago also has an ever-growing suburban area that is typical of most US cities. And yet, again in line with many other cities around the world over the past decade or two, it has seen suburban growth alongside densification of its downtown area and a resurgence of people seeking high-rise urban living.This research report offers a quantitative evaluation of long-held assumptions, and with sometimes surprising results. The ground-breaking study quantitatively investigates and compares the sustainability of people¿s lifestyles in both urban and suburban areas from environmental and social perspectives, using detailed information directly collected from households and best available data from public resources. It fills significant research gaps in our knowledge of the sustainability of urban density compared to suburban sprawl. This is an indispensable resource for policy makers, developers, urban planners, architects, utilities, and anyone else with a stake in shaping the future of the built environment.

Since its emergence in the mid-nineteenth century as the nation's "metropolis," New York has faced the most challenging housing problems of any American city, but it has also led the nation in innovation and reform. Plunz traces New York's housing development from 1850 to the present, exploring the housing of all classes, discussing the development of types ranging from the single-family house to the high-rise apartment tower.

"The initial stages of this book were developed together with Tihamer Salij"--Colophon.

Today, there is a tremendous mismatch between the available housing stock in the US and the housing options that people want and need. The post-WWII, auto-centric, single-family-development model no longer meets the needs of residents. Urban areas in the US are experiencing dramatically shifting household and cultural demographics and a growing demand for walkable urban living. Missing Middle Housing, a term coined by Daniel Parolek, describes the walkable, desirable, yet attainable housing that many people across the country are struggling to find. Missing Middle Housing types—such as duplexes, fourplexes, and bungalow courts—can provide options along a spectrum of affordability. In Missing Middle Housing, Parolek, an architect and urban designer, illustrates the power of these housing types to meet today’s diverse housing needs. With the benefit of beautiful full-color graphics, Parolek goes into depth about the benefits and qualities of Missing Middle Housing. The book demonstrates why more developers should be building Missing Middle Housing and defines the barriers cities need to remove to enable it to be built. Case studies of built projects show what is possible, from the Prairie Queen Neighborhood in Omaha, Nebraska to the Sonoma Wildfire Cottages, in California. A chapter from urban scholar Arthur C. Nelson uses data analysis to highlight the urgency to deliver Missing Middle Housing. Parolek proves that density is too blunt of an instrument to effectively regulate for twenty-first-century housing needs. Complete industries and systems will have to be rethought to help deliver the broad range of Missing Middle Housing needed to meet the demand, as this book shows. Whether you are a planner, architect, builder, or city leader, Missing Middle Housing will help you think differently about how to address housing needs for today’s communities.

This book investigates the development of multi-unit housing typologies that were predominant in a particular city from the 1800s to present day. It emphasises the importance of understanding the direct connection between housing and dwelling in the context of a city, and the manner in which the city is an instructional indication of how a housing typology is embodied. The case studies presented offer an insight into why a certain housing type flourished in a specific city and the variety span across cities in the world where distinct housing types have prevailed. It also pursues how housing types developed, evolved, and helped define the city, looks into how dwellers inhabited their dwellings, and analyses how the housing typologies correlates in a contemporary context. The typologies studied are back-to-backs in Birmingham; tenements in London; Haussmann Apartment in Paris; tenements in New York; tong lau in Hong Kong; perimeter block, linear block, and block-edge in Berlin; perimeter block and solitaire in Amsterdam; space-enclosing structure in Beijing; micro house in Tokyo, and high-rise in Toronto.

From the Introduction: Consider these two places: Walking into Green Acres, you immediately sense that you have entered an oasis-traffic noise left behind, negative urban distractions out of sight, children playing and running on the grass, adults puttering on plant-filled balconies. Signs of life and care for the environment abound. Innumerable social and physical clues communicate to visitors and residents alike a sense of home and neighborhood. This is a place that people are proud of, a place that children will remember in later years with nostalgia and affection, a place that just feels "good." Contrast this with Southside Village. Something does not feel quite right. It is hard to find your way about, to discern which are the fronts and which are the backs of the houses, to determine what is "inside" and what is "outside." Strangers cut across what might be a communal backyard. There are no signs of personalization around doors or on balconies. Few children are around; those who are outside ride their bikes in circles in the parking lot There are few signs of caring; litter, graffiti, and broken light fixtures indicate the opposite. There is no sense of place; it is somewhere to move away from, not somewhere to remember with pride. These are not real locations, but we have all seen places like them. The purpose of this book is to assist in the creation of more places like Green Acres and to aid in the rehabilitation of the many Southside Villages that scar our cities. This book is a collection of guidelines for the site design of low-rise, high-density family housing. It is intended as a reference tool, primarily for housing designers and planners, but also for developers, housing authorities, citizens' groups, and tenants' organizations-anyone involved in planning or rehabilitating housing. It provides guidelines for the layout of buildings, open spaces, community facilities, play areas, walkways, and the myriad components that make up a housing site.