Challenges in the delivery of ‘Urban Villages’ through complex stakeholder partnerships, and multi-discipline approaches: Achieving cohesive built form at Kelvin Grove Urban Village in Australia, and Melrose Arch in South Africa

Abstract

The ontological perspective of cities is that from settlement they are the product of incremental growth with a major variable being the size and speed of development. Historically, cities are characterised as having growth which is evidenced by mostly organic urban patterns exhibiting a patina of diverse urban forms that reflect its longevity. The accumulation of the incremental development of such cities results in the manifestation of fine grain spatial complexities. Planned cities on the other hand, whether of colonial settlement or utopian ideal, have mostly been based on geometrical footprints. In these types of cities the rapid changes to the built environment inflicted by post-industrialised societies has exerted severe pressure on their urban form. The advent of the ‘Urban Village’ in the latter part of the twentieth century was conceptualised on the goal for ‘humane, sustainable and mixed use urban living’  in response to the predicament of the sterile new urban developments of the mid twentieth century.  This paper discusses the conceptual background of urban villages through the application of a case study of Kelvin Grove Urban Village in Brisbane, Australia, and examines the principal challenges of achieving a high-level of architectural cohesion in urban form as demonstrated in the approach taken at Melrose Arch in Johannesburg, South Africa. The combined findings of the two case studies suggest that a multi-disciplinary approach to the design of complex urban precincts through sophisticated planning is crucial to the successful ‘stitching’ of urban villages into their surroundings.

KEYWORDS: Urban Villages, urban form, stakeholder partnerships, multi-discipline