Vinayak Bharne proposes that density is often achieved using blunt enforcement of crude tools like "floor-space index", when density can be much more subtly accomplished than just shooting up a tower.
Bharne advocates that FSI be replaced be a more refined massing strategy, which he calls "blending density":
"It replaces the homogeneity of FSI-based development with a calculated massing diversity that responds to and evolves from the desired character of its physical context. For instance, the FSI target of a single tower floating within a lot can also be achieved through a combination of a tower and mid-rises within the same lot appropriately massed to respond to their surrounding streets. Likewise, an FSI of a single mid-rise can be recalibrated as a combination of mid-rise and low-rise buildings making the development compatible with adjacent single-family houses. Thus, a final FSI target need not be the result of a single literal extrusion, but the average of various FSI components within a site, each carefully conceived in response to context."
FULL STORY: ENABLING RESPONSIBLE URBAN FORM
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