Fleshing out HOPSCA: What is it?

HOPSCA is a prescribed type of mixed use not permitted to be made organically like 
ancient or medieval mixed use centers over centuries.The ingredients of a HOPSCA are its 
SCALE of a minimum of 15,000 resident population in medium and high density living units. Minimum of 10ha land component. 

ACTIVE TRANSPORT NETWORK that incorporates active and passive modes, non-motorised and motorised networks. 

RESOURCE STREAMLINING of HOPSCA's will contribute to social cohesion, efficiency and sustainability through sharing of resources. But they also seem to be targeted at the middle to higher incomes and also displace the local community as they are artificially created communities which I found somehow disheartening as I would personally like to see a more social housing to be included.

I think HOPSCA's are a good way to create economic centers in areas that have a low cost so that the developer profits by creating them. I looked at possible locations for a HOPSCA around the city of Brisbane in Australia based on having empty land, sites that could fit one and the lands proximity to transport networks (roads or rail). What I have demonstrated is that it would be more successful if it was better matched with the local area, I think connecting to the community is the most difficult part. I think it's important to have the existing community benefit from HOPSCA. 

How can the requirements of the community be met by a HOPSCA?

Yes, more funds = more development. I wonder what the percentage of types there are. Perhaps it's Hotel 30%, Office 10%, Park 5%, Shopping 15%, Convention 10%, Apartments 30% of the space. Also, stages of development are also to be considered but they need to be self supporting. Unité d'Habitation, of course. 

Having uses in one building. Howards scale is very large, but not the scale of HOPSCA. It is more like Le Corbusier, perhaps in between these.

The hub of this is the predetermined mixed use of Hotel, Office, Park, Shopping, Convention, Apartments (HOPSCA) is that they are flexible in terms of scale of operation. Depending on how it is funded, is it public (Government) or private (Venture) created? Because of it's scale, it has a major influence in shaping larger Planning Policy. Some developments I have seen are done in stages, they respond to the markets need for office spaces or retail. So, predicting these market forces will shape HOPSCA. How they relate to the larger environment is also a matter of looking if they provide a gap in the market as well. So regionally you need to see it's context and it's catchment of influence for each service.

A HOPSCA can also be funded by the Government like Liverpool One in which business also made it happen. Everybody loves Profit :) I believe that people are considered after all people are customers as well. So are you saying that a HOPSCA is more about Real Estate than a TOD or mixed use is? On LinkedIN there's about 70 people that identify themselves with HOPSCA. Perhaps I'm an idealist when it comes to Planning.

1.- Houses = residents < They live in the complex. 
2.- Services = customers < Traffic from outside to the complex but also from residents. 
3.- Offices = workers < Majority of people that live in the houses go to the offices. 
4.- Transport = users <Visitors to the complex, but not a Transit Orientated Development. 

5. Parks = residents+users <These as well as visitors 
6. Convention = Residents < as well as Hotel guests 

7. Hotel = Residents < A majority would work and live within the HOPSCA 

In some ways it models what a small village is like. Perhaps making things simpler to understand is the key to having larger support by Governments. The term "City within a City" has been used also to make this clearer. It tries to provide services like a city on a smaller scale, but perhaps it needs to grow like a village to town then to a city so that it can be financially flexible. 


Perhaps the time/scale of such a development could be made like a growing town, bit by bit so that it can evolve like a city.



I would like to thank Mehmet Rıfat Akbulut; JOSÉ GUADALUPE PACHECO ESTRADA & Aman Trehan in discussing these on LinkedIN.