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That does sound like traversing a minefield.

> If you already have a generic design or simple, non clever brutalist design, it goes much, much faster and cheaper.

Any reason why governments don't force this strategy right now to solve the housing shortage. I believe they did, post-World War II?

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In the US, at least, the government has been slow to acknowledge the root of the housing crisis. While simpler designs do build faster, the main impediment is municipal-level zoning controls that prevent the construction of denser housing. These codes often insist on non-brutalism, insomuch as they mandate certain materials, setbacks from the lot line, and other aesthetic intangibles, but their main purpose is to appease residents (voters) who generally wish to impede more people from moving to whee they currently live.

They do it for low cost housing here, and certain buildings like clinics. I was surprised the first time I went to a gov clinic in another town; the layout and size were exactly the same. Turns out they were all built from the same template.

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