Best Practice Design and Planning Guidelines for Family-Friendly Apartments

In the context of planning moves to densify Australian cities, an apartment building boom attracting many families with children, and a regulatory regime which ignored the design challenges posed by this cohort, a mismatch has emerged between apartment design policy and the needs of families. This paper reports on research exploring how Australia and other countries transitioning to high-density living could provide more child-friendly apartment design guidelines. The unmet needs of families in apartments highlighted in the international literature was synthesised with international good-practice to inform recommendations for family-friendly apartment design guidelines. These best-practice recommendations have Australian and international application.