Planning and Transport for Healthy Cities
Planning and Transport for Healthy Cities brings together our expertise in understanding how cities are planned and designed to create more just, sustainable and healthy outcomes.
Project dates: 2018–2026
The HIGH LIFE Study
Australia’s cities have seen rapid growth in apartment construction, with apartments now making up around one-third of all new residential building approvals. This construction boom has prompted concerns about apartment quality, with reports of micro apartments, windowless rooms and poor access to sunlight and ventilation. Which raises the question – are Australia’s apartment residents really living the high life?
Apartment design requirements vary widely across Australian states and territories in both scope and regulatory strength. These differences may shape the quality of apartment stock, and ultimately, the health and wellbeing of residents. The HIGH LIFE Study was established to examine how specific apartment and building design features impact residents’ health and wellbeing. It aims to provide policy-relevant evidence to underpin the creation of healthier higher density housing for future generations.
What did we do?
The HIGH LIFE Study examined apartment complexes constructed in Perth, Melbourne and Sydney over the past 15 years. Apartments in these cities have been developed with different levels of policy guidance. Within each city, apartment residents in diverse neighbourhoods were surveyed, and objective measures of apartment design and wider neighbourhood characteristics (such as access to shops, services, transport and parks) were created. We generated measures for 113 apartment complexes, with over 1300 residents across these complexes responding to our survey.
What have we found?
We have prepared a report and infographic summarising key results from the study, which can be accessed via the links below:
Information on our publications and other research outputs can be found below. If you would like a copy of any of the papers listed, please contact the Study Coordinator, Dr Alexandra Kleeman
Foster, S., Kleeman, A., & Lowe, M. (2026). Designed for life: A prospective cohort study examining the relationship between apartment design and residential stability. Cities, 170 (106649). doi: 10.1016/j.cities.2025.106649.
Kleeman, A., Turrell, G., & Foster, S (2026). Neighbourhood socioeconomic disadvantage and body mass index among Australian apartment dwellers. Health Promotion Journal of Australia, 37(1):e70121. doi: 10.1002/hpja.70121.
Bolleter, J., Kleeman, A., Hooper, P., Edwards, N., & Foster, S. (2025). The implementation of Climate Sensitive Urban Design features in contemporary Australian apartment buildings. Journal of Urban Design, 1-23. doi: 10.1080/13574809.2025.2530467.
Das, S., Sun, Q.C., Both, A., & Foster, S. (2025). Greenery from apartments: quantifying and comparing views with residents' perceptions. Computational Urban Science, 5 (61), doi: 10.1007/s43762-025-00220-x.
De Gruyter, C., Truong, L.T., de Jong, G., & Foster, S. (2025). Determinants of zero-car and car-owning apartment households. Transportation, doi: 10.1007/s11116-024-10467-8.
Kleeman, A., & Foster, S. (2025). The impact of apartment design on changes in housing satisfaction during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. Cities & Health, 1-12. doi: 10.1080/23748834.2025.2508049.
Foster, S., Hooper, P., Kleeman, A., & Turrell, G. (2024). Are All Apartments Equal? An Investigation of Contemporary Apartment Design Quality by Neighbourhood-Level Socioeconomic Disadvantage. Urban Policy and Research, 42(2), 124-138, doi: 10.1080/08111146.2024.2341883.
Foster, S., Kleeman, A., & Maitland, C. (2024). Research note: View from the top: Apartment residents’ views of nature and mental wellbeing during lockdown. Landscape and Urban Planning, 247 (105072), doi: 10.1016/j.landurbplan.2024.105072.
Bolleter, J., Hooper, P., Kleeman, A., Edwards, N., & Foster, S. (2024). A typological study of the provision and use of communal outdoor space in Australian apartment developments. Landscape and Urban Planning, 246 (105040), doi: 10.1016/j.landurbplan.2024.105040.
Foster, S., Hooper, P., & Kleeman, A. The importance of good apartment design and how policy can deliver it. Cities People Love (19th April 2024).
Kleeman, A., & Foster, S. (2023). Boxed in: changes in apartment residents’ health behaviours following the COVID-19 lockdown – a longitudinal cohort study. Cities & Health, 1-9, doi: 10.1080/23748834.2023.2294639.
Kleeman, A., Hooper, P., Edwards, N., Bolleter, J., & Foster, S. (2023). Research note: Associations between the implementation of communal open space design guidelines and residents’ use of these spaces in apartment developments. Landscape and Urban Planning, 230 (104613), doi: 10.1016/j.landurbplan.2022.104613.
Kleeman, A., & Foster, S. (2023). ‘It feels smaller now’: The impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on apartment residents and their living environment – A longitudinal study. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 89(102056), 1-9. doi:10.1016/j.jenvp.2023.102056.
Hooper, P., Kleeman, A., Edwards, N., Bolleter, J., Foster, S. (2023) The architecture of mental health: identifying the combination of apartment building design requirements for positive mental health outcomes. The Lancet Regional Health – Western Pacific, 37(100807), doi:10.1016/j.lanwpc.2023.100807.
Foster, S., Hooper, P., Turrell, G., Maitland, C., Giles-Corti, B., & Kleeman, A. (2023). Grand designs for design policy: Associations between apartment policy standards, perceptions of good design and mental wellbeing. SSM Population Health, 20(101301), doi:10.1016/j.ssmph.2022.101301.
De Gruyter, C., Hooper, P., Foster, S. (2023). Do apartment residents have enough car parking? An empirical assessment of car parking adequacy in Australian cities. Journal of Transport Geography, 107(103542), doi: 10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2023.103542.
Kleeman, A., Giles-Corti, B., Gunn, L., Hooper, P., & Foster, S. (2023). The impact of the design and quality of communal area in apartment buildings on residents’ neighbouring and loneliness. Cities, 133(104126), doi: 10.1016/j.cities.2022.104126.
Foster, S., Hooper, P., Duckworth, A., Bolleter, J. (2022). An evaluation of the policy and practice of designing and implementing healthy apartment design standards in three Australian cities. Building and Environment, 207 (108493), doi:10.1016/j.buildenv.2021.108493.
Hooper, P., Bolleter, J., Edwards, N., Kleeman, A., Duckworth, A., & Foster, S. (2022). Measuring the high life: A method for assessing apartment design policy implementation. MethodsX, 9, 101810, doi:10.1016/j.mex.2022.101810.
Kleeman, A., Hooper, P., Giles-Corti, B., & Foster, S. (2022). A new Australian dream? Exploring associations between apartment design attributes and housing satisfaction in three Australian cities. Cities, 131 (104043), doi:10.1016/j.cities.2022.104043.
Foster, S., Hooper, P., & Easthope, H. (2022). Cracking up? Associations between building defects and mental health in new Australian apartment buildings. Cities & Health, doi:10.1080/23748834.2022.2048946.
Kleeman, A., Giles-Corti, B., Gunn, L., Hooper, P., & Foster, S. (2022). Exploring the design, quality and use of communal areas in apartment developments. Cities & Health, 6(3), 480-494, doi:10.1080/23748834.2021.2001169.
Kleeman, A., Gunn, L., Giles-Corti, B., & Foster, S. (2022). Communal area design in apartment buildings: development and comparison of a desktop and on-the-ground landscape assessment tool. Cities & Health, 6(3), 635-649, doi:10.1080/23748834.2020.1773034.
Foster, S., Hooper, P., Kleeman, A., Martino, E., & Giles-Corti, B. (2020). The high life: A policy audit of apartment design guidelines and their potential to promote residents’ health and wellbeing. Cities, 96, 102420, doi:10.1016/j.cities.2019.102420
Foster, S., Maitland, C., Hooper, P., Bolleter, J., Duckworth-Smith, A., Giles-Corti, B., & Arundel, J. (2019). High Life Study protocol: a cross-sectional investigation of the influence of apartment building design policy on resident health and well-being. BMJ Open, 9 (e029220), doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2019-029220.
Follow-up studies
The HIGH LIFE – PARK LIFE Study
Supported by an ARC Discovery grant (DP210103736), this follow-up project investigates how apartment dwellers use public open space and how well local parks meet their needs. The project will generate evidence-based recommendations for equitable public open space planning in higher-density communities. Findings will be released in 2026.
‘Movers and Stayers’ Study
To better understand apartment dwellers’ residential mobility, we re-contacted residents who completed the original HIGH LIFE survey with a short follow-up survey about whether they had stayed in their apartment or moved elsewhere – and why. Analyses show that residents were more likely to remain in apartments with better design quality, highlighting the role of good design in supporting longer-term housing stability. Further results on relocation motivations will be released in 2026.
COVID-19 survey
During the COVID-19 pandemic, we invited HIGH LIFE participants to share their experiences of apartment living during lockdown. Findings revealed a complex interplay of personal, social and environmental impacts, illustrating how design and neighbourhood context shaped residents’ ability to cope during this challenging period. More information is available in our research outputs section.
Project funders and partners
The HIGH LIFE Study is funded by the Western Australian Health Promotion Foundation (Healthway) (#31986) and the Australian Research Council (DE160100140 & FT210100899). We have ethics approval from RMIT University (21146 & 25922).
We acknowledge the contributions of Dr. Clover Maitland, Dr. Paula Hooper and Professor Billie Giles-Corti to different components of the study, including the development of the survey and building and public open space measures.
Key people
- Sarah Foster – Associate Director, Planning & Transport for Healthy Cities
- Alexandra Kleeman – Postdoctoral Research Fellow
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Acknowledgement of Country
RMIT University acknowledges the people of the Woi wurrung and Boon wurrung language groups of the eastern Kulin Nation on whose unceded lands we conduct the business of the University. RMIT University respectfully acknowledges their Ancestors and Elders, past and present. RMIT also acknowledges the Traditional Custodians and their Ancestors of the lands and waters across Australia where we conduct our business - Artwork 'Sentient' by Hollie Johnson, Gunaikurnai and Monero Ngarigo.
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