Housing development and small town residential desirability: Valued aspects, resident attitudes and growth management

Although rural planning has implications for areas operating under constraint, this article considers the challenges faced by small towns in which rural housing growth has been concentrated. By investigating the valued aspects of residents and their attitudes towards/experiences of growth within two case study towns, the article explores the potential for the coexistence of housing development and small town residential desirability. The results have shown housing development to be unpopular where the quality of growth management was of most concern. Incremental developer-led housing growth has unsettled the functional balance of the towns, with its design adding little to aesthetic appeal, character or services. The results illustrate the need to improve growth management by adopting a more 'spatial' and local approach to strategy formation.