The Victorian chapter president of the Australian Institute of Architects says that design-led development will be key to reclaiming Melbourne’s top spot in The Economist’s Global Liveability Index.
Melbourne was ranked the world’s most liveable city for seven years in a row until 2018, when it lost the crown to the Austrian capital of Vienna.
Amy Muir, “As Melbourne’s population continues to skyrocket there needs to be greater focus on future-proofing the city through planning and ensuring a high-quality and sustainable built environment. The delivery of enduring, quality design is integral to maintaining the city’s liveability.”
Both cities improved their respective liveability scores from the previous year. However, a drop in Vienna’s crime rate and a downgrading of the terrorism threat in Europe helped Vienna improve its “stability” ranking.
Muir said masterplanning was a sometimes overlooked part of a city’s success in terms of liveability, particularly in terms of good outcomes for multi-storey residential projects.
“The value of masterplanning cannot be underestimated when acknowledging the liveability and performance of our cities. Building sustainable communities is integral for the effective evolution of place. This is achieved through careful masterplanning, consultation, collaboration with landscape architects and planners and adopting rigorous design review processes.
“Our government, no matter what political persuasion, must ensure the Office of the Victorian Government Architect has ongoing funding to ensure it maintains a position of authority, and adequate resourcing to provide strategic design advocacy and advice.”
“There needs to be a focus on design-led long-term outcomes and there needs to be a concerted effort by government to support the architectural profession. As it stands, the design of multi-storey buildings remains unregulated as there is no requirement for a registered architect to be engaged in the process.
Muir also said that mandatory involvement of registered architects in multi-storey projects could also improve liveability in increasingly dense urban areas.
“Victoria’s building standards need to fall into line with emerging best practice in other jurisdictions to improve safety and amenity and this means requiring the involvement of a registered architect for all apartment buildings of three storeys [or more], clamping down on inadequate building supervision, and putting an end to the practice of product substitution or short-term profits.”
