Lived experience adds to an understanding of truth, as do stories about people’s lives. There is also a place for fiction and historical narratives, particularly in urban settings, to better understand the experiences of city dwellers. The intention for this special issue was to bring together narratives and experiences from different corners of the globe to highlight new encounters, draw similarities from human experiences in city life and share differences. This was all from stories from high-rise residential living. Travel takes you to view different places and offers opportunity to discuss social and political experiences and events with local residents. So too, do case study analysis. This, together with the use of narrative research, more can be added to the fields of researching land use planning (Farthing, 2015) and property law (Blandy and Bright, 2015). The articles in this special issue of JPPEL contribute to planning and property law through the lens of narratives. This sits within the broader methodology of narrative research, an area of qualitative and interpretive research. A range of disciplines and researchers have to date relied upon this area of inquiry to help make sense of their place in the world (Barnwell and Ravn, 2023). For Gioia et al. (2013, p. 16), this is important as much of the organisational world with which we deal is essentially socially constructed. Problematic to narrative research is the potential misuse of narrative in the era of “post-truth”, where dubious accounts multiply and are circulated online unregulated, thereby impacting the authenticity of the events (Brooks, 2022). The case studies shared in this special issue by the authors draw in the audience to experience, along with the authors, deep tensions and challenges, as well as moments of trust, in high-rise living. In turn, this offers a broader audience opportunities for reciprocal living experiences.
The special issue comprises four feature articles highlighting experiences from India, Northern Cyprus, Australia and imaginary, but equally real high-rise residential worlds. Pellissery and Sharma explore experiences of conflict through two specific case study condominium in Bangalore in South India. With huge housing inequality in India, living in condominiums is, as the authors note, “a status symbol”. The condominium developments they describe are private, privileged worlds. They examine two developments less than 250 m apart but with “striking differences”. The authors describe differences in trust relationships in the two condominiums, including where one development spent part of its budget on national and religious festivals for members to celebrate together, creating some tensions in the development. The other condominium did not experience such communal events, leaving us to ponder who benefited and gained from this endeavour. The authors also highlight conflict in the condominium with some shared experiences between the two developments and some quite distinct experiences, despite the proximity to the other development. There are many reciprocal lessons from the two case studies and broader lessons for the audience. One interesting point highlighted by the authors is that, quite distinct from India, condominium living is defined by luxury, and it is through articles such as this one shared by Pellissery and Sharma that readers have a daily view into this unique Indian experience.
Yapicoglu and Kara rely on news articles and information gathered from the Chamber of Turkish Cypriot Uban Planners to share instances of corruption in Northern Cyprus in the construction of residential high-rise buildings. Their article introduces stories regarding the “dynamics between city planning, rent-seeking behaviour and their swift entanglement with corruption”. With rising urbanisation in many cities around the globe, in Northern Cyprus too, there has been increased demand for and the fast-paced building of high-rise housing construction. Unfortunately, this has also attracted some corrupt practices. They discuss Kyrenia, an attractive and ancient waterfront city located in Northern Cyprus. It is described by the authors as one of the most appealing parts of the island due to its unique geography, rich history and its antique harbour with a castle. They highlight that the city also struggles with serious urbanisation issues and overburdened infrastructure incapable of meeting the demands posed by the region’s real estate developments. They say recent amendments to the building legislation allow for taller structures, and this has in turn escalated the demand for land for development and triggered significant public concern. It has also fostered illicit activities within real estate transactions. This included regulatory amendments that did not comply with zoning laws and consequently “allowed costal strips to be occupied by high-rise tourism investments”. To prevent such contrary development, “various civil society organisations […] applied to the court and obtained an injunction against the regulation”. Other narratives of improper and unethical attempts at development are shared by the authors, including shams to gain an increase in housing units from what was designed or planned in the zoning plans, and this only caused further tensions between the various actors – developers, municipal planners and concerned citizens – in the development process. Yapicoglu and Kara end on an alarming note for Northern Cyprus ‘[…] the prevailing attitude of “if I don’t do it, someone else will” and they inform readers that this is “spreading like an endemic mindset” and “[I]n a region where personal connections are prevalent, the expectation for strict laws or enforcement of existing ones is notably low. Consequently, high profits are always perceived as highly controversial due to these circumstances, and corruption is normalized”. This may be Northern Cyprus but could equally apply to many other global locations.
Kwame Otchere, Leshinsky, Halvitigala, Callanan and Sinclair in their article discuss the struggles condominium property managers and homeowner committees face in Melbourne, Australia, from buildings affected by flammable cladding and other construction defects. This has become a tragic narrative in cities like Melbourne and London, and many others, where unsafe fire cladding was used extensively in new and refurbished high-rise buildings. It is not uncommon for owners and renters to continue to reside in these buildings at risk each night of fires alighting in their building. For a single dwelling, repairs and maintenance are relatively more straightforward than for high-rise buildings with hundreds of apartments. The defects and safety issues in these apartment developments have caused significant physical, emotional and financial stress for residents and loss of life, as well as uncertainty for their future lives. Managers too are faced with difficult risk management duties, including emergency evacuation plans. Both managers and residents know that tragedy can strike at any moment. Stories are shared in the article which could easily be relevant to numerous cities across the globe.
In the final article for the special issue, Kiessel and Stubbs take us to the stories about urban high rises from film and television. They continue from their prior joint research, where they concluded the dystopian science-fiction film is a “reflection of, and a means to comment on, contemporary social aspirations and fears”. In their current article, which also interrogates a significant sample of science fiction media, though the reader is in a fictitious world, the tense and, at times, chilling atmosphere created by the authors is very real. The films discussed by the authors “reflect real-life experiences with mass housing” and touch “real-world concerns, complaints, and conflicts”. The media they explore reaches back to 1936, reflecting utopian aspirations of “modern collectiveness”. For classic and cult film connoisseurs, the authors interrogate many films, including Blade Runner, Total Recall and Minority Report. They then offer a multi-dimensional lens to align the films with multi-unit (high-rise) residential developments. Chaotic experiences are described that are based in fiction but very much alive. Home and its meaning are explored, as it relates to security, privacy, family and comfort in urban, architectural and special dimensions in high-rise residential developments. As to whether what is depicted in the film and television as interpreted by the authors reflects real life or not, it is only a matter of personal taste and experience for those whose home is intertwined, or not, in the dystopia of high-rise living depicted by the authors.
