Parcel amalgamation as a mechanism for achieving urban consolidation through densification: The fixity of property boundaries over time

One of the key challenges to urban consolidation is the fixity of property boundaries, particularly in cities containing an abundance of small, individually owned parcels. In Australia, although all major cities have statutory planning instruments aimed at urban consolidation, to constrict development to the existing urban footprint, property amalgamation of small parcels is often the critical bulwark to higher density development. This study aims to understand land parcel amalgamation as part of a broader property boundary change process underpinned by policy interventions explicitly encouraging consolidation through densification. Findings indicate that although amalgamation of parcels is the most common form of property boundary change resulting in apartment buildings, most apartment buildings are constructed on brownfield land, and that land use rezoning to higher density does not guarantee redevelopment outcomes. This study demonstrates that most decisions about urban form are made by private developers, and while planning instruments may encourage individual developers to seek benefit by altering property boundaries for redevelopment, fragmented land ownership and difficulty of land acquisition are barriers to achieving the coordinated, diverse and high amenity redevelopments envisioned in statutory planning schemes. Direct state involvement, at a parcel-scale, is required to overcome the constraints of property boundaries and achieve the purported planning benefits of consolidation-oriented statutory policy.