The Lived Experience of Residents in an Emerging Master-Planned Community

Master-planned communities around the world are developed and purposefully planned to address housing sustainability and community connectivity; they often have a distinctive look, and appeal to a particular customer base desiring a strong, utopian-esque community. However, the lived experience of new residents joining master-planned communities has not been explored. This paper examines the lived experience of new residents within an emerging Australian master-planned estate, and reports on the first two stages of a longitudinal study focusing on the results of an online forum. This unique study presents real-life findings on a culturally diverse community. The findings reveal how the purposeful development of community identity in the early stages of the MPCommunity has not led to satisfactory levels of social infrastructure or social connectedness for the pioneering residents. The physical and social environment, as interpreted by residents against the developers’ imagined vision and marketing testimonies, has not been entirely satisfactory. Infrastructure issues—such as transport, and access to daily activities such as shopping, work, and school—were points of frustration and dissatisfaction. The findings provide insight into the challenges and opportunities for residents in a developing MPC, and further our understanding of the specific factors that inform us as to how social infrastructure can best encourage and support connection within existing and future MPC developments.

Rethinking Neighbourhood Cohesion in the Suburbs: Insights from Communities in Calgary

Neighbourhood cohesion is a desirable outcome of socially sustainable communities. However, such an outcome is not necessarily associated with suburban master-planned communities. This empirical research measures affective and interactive dimensions of neighbourhood cohesion and their correlations with residents’ perception of neighbourhood uniqueness. Using qualitative and quantitative methods, it considers the physical and social attributes of two suburban neighbourhoods in Calgary to provide an in-depth interpretation of similarities and differences in neighbourhood cohesion. The findings address an important aspect of community planning associated with the attractiveness of semi-gated suburban living in low-density developments embedded in the natural environment. Keywords: neighbourhood cohesion, semi-gated suburb, sense of community, community planning, uniqueness

Cold War Suburbs

At the height of the Cold War, in both the US and the Soviet Union, top technical talent was ensconced in state-of-the-art laboratories set among new suburbs with cultural amenities. In Orange County, California, defense research labs were enticed by capitalist strategies; in the USSR, by government command. In both, the new white-collar suburbs made moves to the new centers attractive. The architecture of the housing as well as of the research labs reveals the faith in technology, shifting to a bunker mentality in the Vietnam era. In the USSR, research institutes were set far from city centers. Their architecture and artworks were boldly modern, their engineers and scientists housed in modern apartments among parklands. Reflecting declining military contracts by the 1990s, Orange County’s “think factories” were demolished or repurposed; upscale master-planned communities drew affluent commuters. Former Soviet research institutes morphed into universities and computer and electronics centers, surrounded by exclusive residential communities. There are striking parallels.

Examining psychosocial challenges arising in strata titled housing

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the nature and extent of psychosocial need fulfillment experienced by resident strata title owners and to shed light on factors that detract from residents’ lived experience in the strata title context. Design/methodology/approach – An interview schedule that draws on theories of psychosocial need fulfillment was developed. In total, 16 home owners and three strata title managers were interviewed. Interviewees were sourced from three master planned communities located in South East Queensland, Australia. Findings – The majority of owners reported high levels of need fulfillment and neighbourhood satisfaction. Primary sources of dissatisfaction appeared to be related to body corporate committee governance issues. Research limitations/implications – The study's findings are subject to the widely acknowledged limitations of small sample based interview research and the study's qualitative orientation signifies that it suffers from the compromised generalisability and potential of selective and subjective reporting of observations. Practical implications – The findings suggest a need for greater societal appreciation of factors associated with living in a strata titled community. Recommendations are provided for facilitating the transition to strata title living and reducing sources of resident dissatisfaction. Originality/value – The paper uniquely explores residential satisfaction from a psychosocial needs perspective. There is a paucity of related research reported in the literature.