During the recent bushfires, we saw the best in humanity arise in a wave of compassion, solidarity and support.

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We also heard of looting and scams.

In the present virus outbreak, many have been diligently observing the tough measures to protect others or generously supporting the vulnerable and those in the front lines.

We also heard of hoarding supplies, breaching quarantine or profiteering.

As tempting as it may be, we can't simply recite old axioms about the good and evil.

In my estimation, what these lessons reveal is one of the inevitable parts of the human condition: the state of a constant struggle between hope and fear.

Anxious about our livelihoods, security, loved ones and the future, can we do something different to tip the scales in favour of hope?

The cult of instant gratification and self-absorbed individualism is failing.

So are the wild novel political and academic ideologies, focused more on inventing new ways of taking offence than ways forward.

Significant resources and potential are lost in the process.

As mere individuals, we are invariably predestined to fail.

We only thrive as members of functioning communities.

However, within a fractured society and amid environmental and housing crises, how do we create a good community?

Countless utopian projects emerged in the past, some serving as testing grounds for new cults and manifestos, others merely as affordable alternatives to conventional suburbs.

Typically, those places have lost momentum rather quickly, crashing down in the first turbulence or slowly descending into mediocrity.

Comparing the wide variety of communities I've lived in around the globe - some welcoming, others withdrawn, some joyful, others miserable, some hopeful and others resigned - what seems to invariably predetermine the winners is a rich tradition and vision shared across many generations.

Tradition and established order are the firm rock upon which the best towns were built and still stand.

The shared vision has empowered progress cautiously and deliberately.

Common values make others seem familiar. Nobody is a stranger.

People feel encouraged and at ease to interact and truly care for each other: neighbour for a neighbour, generation for a generation.

The architecture and urban environment that emerge from these common values result in pleasant, unique, locally homogeneous and highly picturesque cultural landscapes.

This striking local character and beauty we then call genius loci - the spirit of the place.

It is what prompts us to stop and take a photo of a European village or turn our heads away when passing an ugly sprawling suburb.

It is what draws in visitors and invigorates the local economy, culture and life.

In Australia, with its population always on the move and homes treated as commodities, places with a strong spirit may be relatively rare, though they are entirely possible to create.

Considering the growing demand for affordable housing, it only takes the investors and property developers to think a little differently.

In their hands lies the power to substantially improve our cultural landscape, creating places where young people, families and the elderly alike will want to and be able to move for life.

Plentiful precedents are now available worldwide, proving that affordability, quality and community need not be mutually exclusive concepts in property development, and in fact should and easily could become the norm.

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