Condominium living

Recent decades have witnessed rapid growth in market-led speculative higher-density housing. These developments are often delivered, owned and managed as condominiums. This form of ownership allows for individual ownership of a unit alongside collective ownership of, and responsibility for, the rest of the building and facilities. As a vehicle for property ownership and investment, the condominium has played in important role in the commodification of cities. The material form of apartment developments and accompanying governance structures have implications for the lived experience of their residents. Whether residents’ experiences are positive or negative depends on the quality of the built environment, the social relationships within buildings, governance structures and cooperation between residents and the broader cultural expectations around condominium living. This chapter sheds light on challenges that emerge in condominiums related to building design and quality and over tensions between individual rights and responsibility. But we also shed light on an alternate pathway, highlighting examples of condominium developments facilitating positive social and environmental outcomes and demonstrating that there is untapped potential in the institution of the condominium. We argue that for this potential to be realized, a range of government and non-government interventions are needed.