Here’s why Australia should build more smaller houses rather than fewer big ones | Peter Mares

High speed rail is fantastic, but good inter-city routes are not a substitute for excellent local city planning. People should be able to live close to their work, and even closer to their daily amenities like shops, hospitals, schools, sports clubs and other social venues, cafes, etc., and should be able to get to them within a short walk or bike ride, without having to rely on long-distance travel like cars or even trains.

It's a good idea in general to have more universal public transport, but it's much more efficient to build up rather than out. And you're still putting limited construction resources into massive single family homes, when it could instead go into duplexes, fourplexes, and small apartment buildings.