MIXED USE HIGH DENSITY DEVELOPMENT

Consideration of the Key Factors that Contribute to the Success or Failure of a Mixed-Use Development

Consideration of the Key Factors that Contribute to the Success or Failure of a Mixed-Use Development

Introduction

Mixed-use development is the use of a building, set of buildings, or neighborhood for more than one purpose. Since the 1920s, zoning in some countries has required uses to be separated. However, when jobs, housing, and commercial activities are located close together, a community's transportation options increase. In addition, mixed-use developments often have higher property values. Often located in existing urban areas or as part of a new town center, mixed-use development provides a range of commercial and residential unit sizes and options. In planning zone terms, this can mean some combination of residential, commercial, industrial, office, institutional, or other land uses. The concept of "mixed-use" as a discrete zone is predicated on the relatively recent practice of single-use zoning whereby different uses in different places are set by legislative mandate.

Throughout most of human history, the majority of human settlements developed as mixed-use environments. Walking was the primary way that people and goods were moved about, sometimes assisted by animals such as horses or cattle. Most people dwelt in buildings that were places of work as well as domestic life, and made things or sold things from their own homes. Most buildings were not divided into discrete functions on a room by room basis, and most neighborhoods contained a diversity of uses, even if some districts developed a predominance of certain uses, such as metalworkers, or textiles or footwear due to the socio-economic benefits of propinquity. People lived at very high densities because the amount of space required for daily living and movement between different activities was determined by walkability and the scale of the human body. This was particularly true in cities, and the ground floor of buildings was often devoted to some sort of commercial or productive use, with living space upstairs.

Why mixed use development?

Throughout the late 20th century, it began to become apparent to many urban planners and other professionals that mixed-use development had many benefits and should be promoted again. As American, British, Canadian and Australian cities deindustrialized, the need to separate residences from hazardous factories became less important. Completely separate zoning created isolated "islands" of each type of development. In most cases, the automobile had become a requirement for transportation between vast fields of residentially zoned housing and the separate commercial and office strips, creating issues of Automobile dependency. In 1961, Jane Jacobs' influential The Death and Life of Great American Cities argued that a mixture of uses is vital and necessary for a healthy urban area.

Development Density

Density is important to support mixed use development. Denser communities are more sustainable than spreading communities. Zoning laws have been revised accordingly and increasingly attempt to address these problems by using mixed-use zoning. A mixed use district will most commonly be the "downtown" of a local community, ideally associated with public transit nodes ...