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Madison Rossetti

Mrs. Jackie Burr, Instructor

English 1010, Section 2

9 Jan. 2020

Positive and Negative Impacts of High Density Housing

Getting off work at 5:00 p.m. and trying to go anywhere is impossible. In many cities,

traveling takes forever, and it is impossible to go anywhere, especially at rush hour. One of the

main factors of traffic congestion is high density housing. The population is 44,877 in Herriman,

Utah, and the population density is 2,080.20 people per mile. Herriman was established in 1851,

where it was a very small, rural, and lowly populated town. In 2010, Herriman was dirt with a

couple houses. Over the next nine years, there are now numerous houses and a plethora of people

all over Herriman. With one main road into Herriman and many other small outlets, these roads

get very congested, especially during rush hour. With high density housing, there is also issues

with overcrowding of schools, there are fifteen schools in Herriman, and the numbers are still on

the rise. The numerous high density housing that is arising in Herriman is not helping advance

Herriman and keep it organized. This is not only a problem in Herriman, but in many different

places in the world, and before we just continue to build houses from the ground up, we need to

take into account all of the impacts that this housing is putting on the communities and cities.

With the many impacts that high density is putting on many cities, there is good coming

from high density housing because it is still on the rise. What are the environmental impacts on

high density housing? High density housing does create mass amounts of traffic congestion, cost

of profit from the developments and residence, and potential reduction of outdoor spaces. It also
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makes it easier to manage schools, lower infrastructure for the government, and attracts new

employers and property values.

During rush hour there already is multiple places that are difficult to travel to because of

traffic and other reasons. With all of the high density housing that is going in, it makes it

impossible to go anywhere and make it anywhere on time, or at all. In an article by Richard Yap

and Richard Whitfiled analyzing Hong Kong, traffic, and public housing it states, “Serious traffic

problems have existed in Hong Kong for a long time. The high population and traffic densities in

Hong Kong mean that the transportation system is increasingly congested most of the time”

(358). High density housing provides a challenge when there is always traffic and it makes

people not be able to go anywhere. We can see that this is a problem in many places, including

Hong Kong. They analyze what is happening and how they can fix the congestion and problems

in that area. These researchers use the government’s analysis that they have made to see the

averages of housing, traffic, population, transportation and the variables that affect it. Along with

all the traffic that high density housing is causing, high density housing is costly. Living in high

density housing is not cheap and it actually can be more expensive than a house. High density

housing is not going to be a good financial decision for people in the long run.

People that live in these houses do not have much space. People are forced to live in very

small areas and people do not have backyards at all. Even in big cities, the big buildings and high

density housing is blocking the sunlight from the ground which is having a big impact on people.

High density housing is establishing numerous effects on many cities and towns all over the

world. We need to see if this is something that is helping our community more than it is hurting

it, or if we need to come up with a better way to house people. In a study done by Edward Ng on
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the daylight design that high density residential housing has on Hong Kong. He says “As the

world population increases, more and high-density cities will emerge. Today, around 20 cities in

the world have 10 million inhabitants or more … In cities like these, buildings are fighting each

other for natural light and ventilation” (127). In figure 1, the pictures show how the buildings are

laid out and how tall they are, sunlight and ventilation cannot be accessible to all. These

researchers are coming up with new ways to fix this problem and see what else they can do

besides have all of the high density housing. Research are always providing the world with new

strategies with their data and theories.

Figure 1 ​A photo taken from a residential unit, showing the compact buildings. The buildings
are laid out and placed together in a way that there is problems with ventilation and sunlight.
Sunlight can’t go a long way when there are high density houses in the way.

With numerous disadvantages, high density housing does provide the world with positive

impacts. High density housing attracts many new employers and people into cities. It gives

people an easy way to live alongside the places that they need to travel everyday. Emily Burton

suggests that high density housing gives better access to facilities for many families:
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These are significant advantages for low-income households, as many have no access to

a car and find public transport too expensive to use. One example of decentralization

trends,that of the growth of out-of-town retailing, may disadvantage car-less urban

dwellers as in-town superstores close down in response to the competition, and residents

are required to spend increasingly large amounts of money traveling to out-of-town

stores or using more expensive local food stores. (1972)

The study shows that having high density housing and places close, it is easy for people to travel

to places. When people do not have the income they will not have to travel very far to achieve

what they need to. It also increases many property values which encourages investment. High

density housing is pursued in places with potential. In a study done by Elizabeth Burton, she

talks about the compact city and how high density housing is having a real effect on people, and

makes life easier for a lot of people. They are not just going to put a ton of houses in the middle

of nowhere, they put them in places that are populated and have great potential with job growth,

and many stores. We need to realize what high density housing is doing for us and how it is

impacting not only the environment, but also the people, jobs, travel and everything.

Finding the right city for high density housing can be hard because we have to take into

effect many different things. If this type of housing isn’t going to help the community, then there

is no point to waste money on housing that is going to hurt the environment in multiple ways. In

an article by Chris Boyko, he is trying to understand high density housing and explains why we

are building the wrong cities. In his study, he says “Overall high density housing can support

better and cheaper public transport, promote greater energy efficient buildings, create more

opportunities… also lead[ing] to more pedestrian casualties, urban heat island effects, poorer
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ecosystem quality, and loss of privacy; and reductions in our physical and mental wellbeing.” In

his article he establishes a hypothesis and concludes research to see how different kinds of

housing affects different places. He also says that when we have high density housing in the

wrong places cities are way less efficient and neighborhoods become “dead zones” as well as

valuable resources are wasted on solving the wrong problems. Valerie Kupke et al. did a study

on the impact of high density housing. In their studies they say “Development in suburban areas

has been favored by state governments in Australia as a means of improving the efficiency of

land use.” The government is not taking into accountability all of the positive and negative

impacts that high density housing is bringing, they are just building them for the efficiency of

land use. As research shows, you have to have high density housing in the right place to work, so

we need to weigh the pros and the cons.

In the places that the government decides that they need high density housing, we can use

different methods to put high density housing in the best spots. In a study done by Xinhao Wang

and David P Varady, they use the hot-spot analysis to study high density housing and how it will

help solve problems. They conclude that “[w]e recommend that planners and housing officials

use hot-spot analysis in the future in conjunction with the more widely known dot mapping and

census tract analysis techniques” (29). Through their method of hot-spot analysis, we can

establish effective high density housing. They use the “density-based spatial clustering

technique” to show clustering, mapping, concentration, extent, and variation of different areas

that are possible places for high density housing. In another study done by Godwin Arku, he

studies African cities and how we need to adopt smart growth policies in development. It shows

another way that we can evaluate cities and whether or not they are candidates for high density
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housing. He explains “smart growth policies” and what they are and how they can help. He says,

“The central idea of smart growth is that structured and strategic planning supports economic

growth, addresses community needs, and protects the environment” (253). These smart growth

techniques can help us address the most serious issues that we face while planning our cities and

how to keep them thriving. By using these techniques we can have a more effective way of

planning high density housing, and finding the best places for it.

With high density housing, there are many solutions and different approaches. If we

decide that high density housing is doing good for the community and city, then we should keep

and continue to build the community and keep it growing. We can also come up with alternatives

and better ways to keep jobs, stores, and the people in the cities. We just need to find the most

beneficial way to do this and accomplish what we need to do. Certain places would be beneficial

for high density housing, and would build up the community. Although in other places, this type

of housing is not working and is harming the environment. As we see through many examples,

there are numerous effects of high density housing, but through the right research and tactics, we

can find the best place that is in need of this. High density housing comes with many positive

and negative impacts on the environment and the community so we realize what is going to help

us and keep us advancing. In many places around the world, high density housing is working

great for them. Builders and researches just need to weigh the effects that high density housing is

going to put on certain cities to find a match for high density housing. Our main goal in cities is

to keep communities thriving and advancing in a positive direction. We can accomplish this

through finding out what is helping and contributing to our environment. High density housing
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has an enormous effect on our communities, so we just need to have the right research to help

accomplish the city's goals.

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Works Cited

Arku, Godwin. “Rapidly Growing African Cities Need to Adopt Smart Growth Policies to Solve

Urban Development Concerns.” ​Urban Forum,​ vol. 20, no. 3, Aug. 2009, pp. 253–270.

EBSCOhost​, doi:10.1007/s12132-009-9047-z.

Boyko, Chris. “Misunderstanding Density: Why We Are Building the Wrong Sort of Cities.” ​The

Guardian,​ Guardian News and Media, 29 July 2014,

https://www.theguardian.com/housing-network/2014/jul/29/cities-density-building.

Burton, Elizabeth. “The Compact City: Just or Just Compact? A Preliminary Analysis.” ​Urban

Studies (Routledge),​ vol. 37, no. 11, Oct. 2000, pp. 1969–2006. ​EBSCOhost,​

doi:10.1080/00420980050162184.

Kamete, Amin Y. “Restrictive Control of Urban High-Density Housing in Zimbabwe:

Deregulation, Challenges and Implications for Urban Design.” ​Housing, Theory &

Society​, vol. 16, no. 3, Oct. 1999, pp. 136–151. ​EBSCOhost,​

doi:10.1080/14036099950149992.

Kupke, V., Rossini, P. and McGreal, S. (2012), "Measuring the impact of higher density housing

development", ​Property Management​, Vol. 30 No. 3, pp. 274-291.

https://doi.org/10.1108/02637471211233909.

Ng, Edward. “Studies on Daylight Design and Regulation of High-Density Residential Housing

in Hong Kong.” ​Lighting Research & Technology​, vol. 35, no. 2, June 2003, pp.

127–139. EBSCOhost​, doi:10.1191/1477153503li087oa.

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Wang, Xinhao, and David P. Varady. “Using Hot-Spot Analysis to Study the Clustering

of Section 8 Housing Voucher Families.” ​Housing Studies,​ vol. 20, no. 1, Jan. 2005, pp.

29–48. ​EBSCOhost​, doi:10.1080/0267303042000308714.

Yam, Richard C. M., and Richard C. Whitfield. “Forecasting Traffic Generation in Public

Housing Estates.” Journal of Transportation Engineering, vol. 126, no. 4, July 2000, p.

358. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1061/(ASCE)0733-947X(2000)126:4(358).