Designing for Impact: Our housing legacy and what comes next
When I founded City Collective nine years ago, my vision was simple: bring together urban design, architecture, and planning to solve the biggest challenges facing our growing cities. It wasn’t about style or ego, it was about purpose. Having lived and worked through San Francisco’s housing crisis in 2014, I saw firsthand how cities can […]
Short-Term Games, Long-Term Gains
What Adelaide taught me about the power of events, and what Brisbane can still learn Years ago, I proposed a bold but strategic idea: Adelaide could host the Commonwealth Games, not just as a celebration of sport, but as a lever for city-wide transformation. That thinking became a thesis, Short Term Games, Long Term Gains, […]
The top 10 design mistakes for mixed-income housing in 2024
Mixed-income housing is the future of cities—an opportunity to deliver inclusive, vibrant neighborhoods where people of all incomes can live, work, and thrive. But too often, good intentions are derailed by poor design. In 2024, as housing crises escalate globally, bad design isn’t just a mistake—it’s a missed opportunity for equity, livability, and community success. […]
Designing for density: How missing middle housing can balance livability and inclusivity in mixed-use projects
The secret to balancing density and livability isn’t found in towering skyscrapers or sprawling suburbs—it’s in the Missing Middle Housing. This often-overlooked approach to residential design creates diverse, low-to-mid-rise housing options that fit perfectly into mixed-use developments. From duplexes to townhouses to small apartment clusters, Missing Middle Housing boosts density while staying grounded in human […]
Architectural strategies that work
How do we design mixed-income housing that’s beautiful, functional, and equitable? Here are the strategies that make it possible: Design Without Hierarchies At Uniting on Second, affordable and market-rate apartments share the same material palette—a mix of precast concrete, brickwork, and lightweight cladding. This eliminates visual disparities while improving thermal performance and durability. When buildings […]
Architectural strategies for mixed-income housing in mixed-use districts
Great architecture doesn’t just look good—it works for people, places, and communities. In the world of mixed-use districts, mixed-income housing brings a unique challenge: balancing beautiful, functional design with inclusivity and affordability. But when architects get it right, the result is transformative—spaces that serve everyone equitably, without compromising on aesthetics, comfort, or dignity. From Fayette […]
One block, many lives: Why mixed-use developments need mixed-income housing
The cities of tomorrow won’t be built on single-purpose developments or income silos. They’ll be vibrant, integrated, and inclusive—where diverse incomes, uses, and opportunities intersect. In a time when economic and social divisions are growing wider, mixed-use developments that include mixed-income housing are more than a trend, they are an urban necessity. <h2>The Problem with […]
City Chats: A holistic approach to community housing
New ways of financing and developing housing projects are essential if Australia is going to meet the demand for affordable housing into the future. That’s the view of three community housing experts who recently participated in City Collective’s City Chats panel discussion on the topic A holistic approach to community housing. Managing Director of Housing Choices Australia Michael […]
Community housing isn’t easy, but it doesn’t need to be this hard
City Collective has spent years working in the Community Housing Sector – we know it’s easy to get bogged down in the development process. Community Housing Providers have the honourable goal to build a high quantity of product and put a dent in one of Australia’s most significant challenges – affordable housing. But no matter […]
