Paris, Auckland, Croydon... All prime examples of 'sensible densification'

LONDON must look to Paris and Auckland as examples of swapping tower blocks for mid-rise buildings in order to solve the capital's housing crisis, the Mayor of London has been told.

- By KUMAIL JAFFER

The capital cities of France and New Zealand make use of mid-rise developments - buildings between five and nine storeys - to maximise density, as opposed to a mix of single-storey houses and high-rise tower blocks.

In 2021, 88.3 per cent of London's homes were in low-rise buildings - houses, bungalows, or flats in two to five-storey buildings - compared to 41 per cent in Paris, 48 per cent in New York and 62 per cent in Tokyo.

With ministers demanding London build 88,000 homes a year as part of a wider aim of building 1.5million new dwellings by 2029, the London Assembly Planning and Regeneration Committee explored whether London should target mid-rise developments to meet the target.

Nicholas Boys Smith MBE, Founder and Director of the Create Streets think tank, held up Paris as a prime example of the benefits of prioritising mid-rise building.

Their local strategy, called Le Plan local d’urbanisme (PLU), limits new building heights to 37 metres and restricts where high-rises can be built. This has led to a unique layout of tightly packed, mid-rise blocks across the city.

“Paris is building mid-rise housing of quite astonishing quality,” he told the London Assembly. “Part of this is about transport - it is easier and cheaper to build trams. These trams lead to new suburbs and neighbourhoods being created and justifies a greater density of building.”