Architects in South Australia have called for better housing and stronger protection for Adelaide Park Lands as the state prepares for the upcoming election.

(above image: South Parklands – Adelaide. Image by Michael Coghlan from Adelaide, Australia via Wikipedia)

With the South Australian election set to take place in March, the South Australian Chapter of the Australian Institute of Architects (AIA) has released a suite of policy statements.

The statements call on political parties to commit to a vision for the state’s future which involves a design-led approach to the urban environment.

All up, the statements make 47 recommendations across seven areas.

These areas include urban planning, housing quality and supply, modern methods of construction, procurement, Adelaide Park Lands protections, arts & culture, and artificial intelligence and the built environment.

Craig Glasson, Interim Executive Leader of the Institute’s South Australian chapter, told Sourceable that importance of the built environment should not be underestimated.

According to Glasson, South Australia has a number of strengths.

These include a globally recognised urban forest in the Adelaide Park Lands, a compact and accessible capital city, strong architectural heritage and emerging leadership in renewable energy and low-carbon initiatives.

The state also benefits from a collaborative design community, high-quality university programs and successful design-led precincts such as Lot Fourteen, an innovation district.

However, he says that there are several areas where challenges are becoming more acute.

For example, according to Glasson:

• housing affordability and supply are at crisis levels
• planning reforms have created complexity and uncertainty
• procurement processes often prioritise cost over quality; and
• the state’s regulatory settings can struggle to keep pace with climate imperatives and contemporary construction methods.

There is also growing concern about the incremental loss of green space, inconsistent design quality in new developments and the need for stronger independent design review across both government and private-sector projects.

“The built environment shapes almost every aspect of daily life—how we live, learn, work, move around, access essential services, and connect with community,” Glasson told Sourcable in a written response to questions.

“It has profound social, economic, and environmental implications.

“When we get it wrong, we lock in long-term costs: poor housing quality and affordability, inefficient infrastructure, declining health outcomes, environmental degradation, and diminished social cohesion. These consequences are expensive to fix and are felt for generations.

“When we get it right, the benefits compound. High-quality design supports better health and wellbeing, reduces energy use and household bills, strengthens resilience to climate impacts, attracts investment, protects heritage and open space, and enhances community identity. Well-planned cities and regions also make it easier to deliver housing supply, support local jobs and create vibrant places where people want to live and businesses want to grow.

“Ultimately, the built environment is the physical framework of society. This is why we believe voters and policymakers should treat design quality, planning, sustainability, and housing seriously—they are the foundations of a strong, fair, and future-ready South Australia.”

(Rymill Park, a popular part of the Adelaide Parklands/. Image by By pjf3938 – via flickr)

Better housing, greater Park Lands protection

As mentioned above, the statements call for 47 actions across seven areas.

Of these, two areas which stand out involve housing and protection of the Adelaide Park Lands.

In terms of housing, the state faces similar affordability challenges to those which are evident across the nation.

Currently, average renters in Adelaide pay around one third (33 percent) of their income in rent. Meanwhile, first home-buyers require an average of 7.2 years to save for a deposit.

Concerningly, more than 16,000 households remain on the state’s social housing waitlist.

As with other states, meanwhile, South Australia will be challenged to meet its targets for new housing supply under the National Housing Accord.

Whilst the state has a target 84,000 net dwelling completions over the five years to June 2029, it is currently projected to deliver only 59,000 homes over this timeframe.

Finally, new and existing housing needs to be healthy, comfortable, sustainable and resilient to climate impacts.

In this area, the Institute calls for ten actions.

First, it calls for the creation of a design-led housing strategy.

This would embed design excellence, performance and climate resilience into housing policy, planning and investment decisions.

The housing strategy would be supported by a strategy for supply, which would coordinate planning, land release, market feasibility and infrastructure delivery to ensure that supply meets demand.

Social housing would also be expanded to return to 6 percent of the overall dwelling stock.

Other recommendations cover the adoption of updates to the National Construction Code, housing diversity and inclusion, minimum rental performance standards, workforce development, low carbon and circular construction, modern methods of construction and governance and transparency.

In addition, the AIA is seeking stronger protection for the Adelaide Park Lands.

Labelled by the City of Adelaide as ‘Australia’s biggest backyard’ the Adelaide Park Lands cover 932 hectares and enable residents and visitors to participate in sport, exercise and relaxation.

According to Glasson, The Park Lands are unique in the world.

They form a continuous, historic green belt that defines Adelaide’s character, supports biodiversity, cools the city and underpins public health and wellbeing.

With increasing urban heat, population growth and densification, their role is more important than ever.

Over recent years, however, the Park Lands have come under pressure from various development proposals.

Recent examples include:

• Plans to redevelop the North Adelaide Golf Course in order to move the LIV Golf tournament into the city.
• Walker Corporation’s planned 38-storey Festival Plaza Tower 2 on public land behind Parliament House in Adelaide.

Whilst these projects may deliver benefits, their potential impacts have raised concerns.

In relation to the golf course redevelopment, concerns centre around:

• the potential loss of mature trees
• disturbance of material of Indigenous cultural significance
• the impact of permanent infrastructure which is necessary to support the redevelopment; and
• restrictions on public access both during the event and potentially year-round.

In relation to the tower, there are fears that the scale and size of the development will overshadow Parliament House, which is recognised internationally for its democratic heritage.

There is also concern that the project will convert what should be a civic plaza on public-owned land into a commercial high-rise.

In addition to individual impacts, there are broader concerns that incremental development or fragmentation may compromise the Park Lands’ continuity as a single, indivisible landscape.

(In relation to both of the aforementioned developments, Glasson adds that there has been a lack of meaningful public consultation.)

In response, the AIA is seeking ten actions to deliver stronger and more permanent Park Lands protection (refer statement).

In particular, the Institute wants the next state government to reinforce the National Heritage state of the parklands by elevating the Adelaide Park Lands to a State Heritage Place or Area.

It also wants commitments to maintain the Park Lands as a single, continuous landscape without any fragmentation, zoning carveouts or privatisation.

Other areas of action

In addition, the AIA is seeking policy commitments in other areas.

These include:

• Leveraging digital technology and intelligence to promote positive built environment outcomes and innovation which is ‘sustainable, ethical and human centred’.
• Strengthening the state’s creative ecosystems through strategic investment and cultural policy integration.
• Improving construction productivity, quality and sustainability though embracing Modern Methods of Construction, digital design, prefabrication and innovative construction techniques.
• Improving public procurement practices by embedding project excellence, whole-of-life value and transparent, fair competition across South Australia’s procurement process.
• Improving urban planning practices by reforming governance and planning systems to ensure that communities are well-designed, sustainable, connected and livable.

(Princess Elizabeth Playgrounds, Adelaide Park Lands (image vis Pdfpdf via Wikepedia)

A shared responsibility

Overall, Glasson says that responsibility for built environment outcomes is shared among multiple stakeholders,

This includes governments and regulators; architects, engineers, planners and designers; the development and construction sector, industry and professional associations; education and research institutes and the broader community.

“Ultimately, achieving the best outcomes requires alignment between all sectors,” Glasson said.

“Government sets the direction, but success depends on genuine collaboration—and on recognising that good design is not a cost, but an investment in the future of South Australia.”

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