Discretion versus prescription: Assessing the spatial impact of design regulations in apartments in Australia

Abstract

The Victorian Government introduced the Better Apartment Design Guidelines in 2017. The introduction of these new regulations is a response to growing criticism over the quality of the large number of apartments recently constructed in Melbourne. This concern is shared in other Australian cities, but until now Victorian planning regulations have been the least prescriptive and most permissive in terms of apartment design parameters of any Australian jurisdiction. Reflecting on these concerns raises several questions in terms of the effectiveness of regulating for quality. Does regulating design in apartments improve quality or stifle innovation? Can the effect be measured, given the large nu..