Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
Page 4
Page 5
Page 6
Page 7
Page 8
Page 9
Page 10
Page 11
Page 12
Page 13
Page 14
Page 15
Page 16
2 Sydney is clearly swinging towards cosmopolitan apartment living with 35 of residents living in apartments and a further 15 being investors who own apartments. So 50 of Sydney siders own or rent an apartment. These figures come from an extensive poll undertaken by the independent polling company ResearchNow from the 13th to the 20th February 2015. Over 1000 people connected to apartments completed a 15 minute online survey than provides excellent data on just who lives in apartments what their life style preferences are how they vote their attitudes to public transport and many other areas. This edition of Urban Ideas records some of the results of the survey but can only present the tip of the iceberg of the enormous amount of data. Seonaid Chappell was the researcher from ResearchNow who worked with the Urban Taskforce to develop the questions and then analyse the results to outline key trends. With data from around 40 questions Seonaid has been able to filter responses to one question through age groups political persuasions renters or owners to give a focussed approach to the survey results. In this way we can see what percentage of Gen Y are Liberal voters who are apartment renters prefer public transport or how often over 60s owner occupiers eat at home. WHO IS THE APARTMENT COMMUNITY ResearchNow began their survey with a large number of Sydney siders and terminated 44 of these as they did not own rent or intend to move into an apartment. This left a poll size of 1008 people which is considered statistically to be a high number to get a real measure of how the apartment community thinks. The 56 of Sydney siders who were involved in apartments was made up of 18 owner occupiers 17 renters who do not own their apartment 15 investors who own an apartment but rent it out to others and a further 6 intenders who plan to buy or move into an apartment within the next 5 years. HOW CAN THE POLL DATA AFFECT PLANNING The key difference between apartment dwellers and house dwellers that comes from the poll is that apartment dwellers are more concerned about their neighbourhood. They want restaurants nearby they want to walk to the supermarket they want public transport nearby they appreciate shared amenities like parks and swimming pools. Clearly this means apartments are best zoned for more urban areas around transport nodes. Planners need to consider more mixed use precincts where jobs are close to home. More urban density can generate the need for more cafes laundries accountants bookkeepers art galleries and fitness centres all of which generate jobs. HOW CAN THE DATA AFFECT POLITICIANS We suspect that political candidates find it difficult to door knock each unit in an apartment block. It is much easier to knock on the front door of a detached house than try to get into the security lobby of an apartment block. So many politicians are probably over influenced by suburban house dwellers and the data from our poll on apartment dwellers will give politicians a perspective on this often hidden group. HOW CAN THE DATA AFFECT DESIGNERS DEVELOPERS OF APARTMENTS The poll has a lot of very useful information on just what apartment dwellers see as being important. The balcony for instance is seen as being far more important than a swimming pool particularly for renters. Car parking is another area where renters do not see this as being as important as investors do. Many developers include significant amenities but these need to be offset with higher purchase prices and higher body corporate fees. The survey in this edition of Urban Ideas gives some critical feedback from the investors the potential owners and the renters. With 50 of Sydney siders owning or renting an apartmentwe must plan the city in a new way The Urban Taskforce is keen to have responses to the proposals illustrated in this issue of URBAN IDEAS and we welcome comments to adminurbantaskforce.com.au Chris Johnson AM Chief Executive Officer Urban Taskforce Australia The key difference between apartment dwellers and house dwellers that comes from the poll is that apartment dwellers are more concerned about their neighbourhood. They want restaurants nearby ... to walk to the supermarket ... public transport nearby... and shared amenities...