What is optimised density?
Optimising density means using available land in the best way possible for new homes and other uses, while making sure it fits in well with the surrounding area and creates high-quality places and spaces.
This does not mean that all new developments will be high-rise towers. Good design principles can help make better use of available land in other ways.
The benefits to optimised density are:
- sites are developed efficiently, making the most of the available land to deliver our targets for homes and other uses
- buildings that are of an optimised density can be more affordable than single-family homes
- they can provide shared spaces and facilities to create a sense of community, such as co-working spaces, gyms, laundries and gardens
- they can provide a greater mix of different house types and sizes to provide choice and meet the needs of local people
- it supports the redevelopment of vacant sites
- there's potential for mixed-uses including retail and leisure facilities
- it can reduce sprawl and the extent to which development will be required on greenfield or Green Belt sites
- in urban areas it supports walking and cycling by being located close to local facilities and services
- it can make provision of public transport services more viable by increasing the population who will use them