The Look and Feel of a Place: Character, Community, and the Compact City

In recent decades, the politics of debate surrounding compact-city policies in Melbourne, Australia, has increasingly focused on the problematic concept of "character." Higher-density developments are frequently construed by resident groups as "out of character" or in violation of the urban or neighborhood character. Drawing on qualitative, in-depth interviews with 60 residents in six case studies, this article unpacks the discourse of character in order to shed light on resident attitudes toward higher-density development. It concludes by linking the findings to the notion of "fantasy" developed by Jacques Lacan and further expounded by Slavoj Zizek.