The swing to apartment living in Sydney is happening at a faster rate than any other Australian city. The square kilometre population grid from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), based on data from the last census, shows that Sydney is the most densely populated city.
"Sydney has more areas of very high density - there are 21 square kilometres with more than 8000 people per square kilometre - compared to Melbourne's solitary one square kilometre above this population density," Alister Nairn, director of geography at the ABS, says. 
"Our cities are maturing," Domain Group senior economist Andrew Wilson says. "They're spreading and becoming more dense and we're looking for better quality amenity and typically closer in, rather than further out," he says of the shift towards apartments.
With apartments typically being less expensive than houses, affordability is one factor making them so popular. Amenity and lifestyle opportunities are also big drawcards. "There are recreational facilities on most new apartment developments now and the very nature of them is that there's already high levels of infrastructure and residential amenity there," Wilson says.
Peak at Putney Hill, the latest stage to be released as part of Frasers Property's master-planned Putney Hill community, is an example of an apartment development benefiting from the existing infrastructure. "Putney is actually an old established neighbourhood of Sydney, it has a long history and heritage and it's nestled on the Parramatta River. It's about 13 kilometres from the CBD and typically the profile of dwellings is detached houses with very little density of apartments,"  Frasers Property sales and marketing director Paul Lowe says.
"What's unique about this is you're effectively putting a master plan within an established neighbourhood or suburb, whereby suddenly it's close to transport, it's close to the city, it's close to education hubs, close to healthcare but it has its own character and village atmosphere ... You're getting all the underlying infrastructure that was already in the neighbourhood but you're building new dwellings," Lowe says.
Putney Hill, at the site of the former Royal Rehabilitation Centre Sydney in Ryde, will eventually be home to 791 dwellings, a mix of detached houses, terraces and apartments. Peak will have 174 apartments, a mix of one, two and a higher than usual number of three bedrooms, over two buildings. "It's probably the premium of the apartment releases we have completed thus far, due to the fact it is at the highest point of the master plan and it affords the best views," Lowe says.
Peak residents, expected to be mainly owner-occupiers, will not only enjoy views from generous balconies towards the water, city and Blue Mountains, they will also enjoy wide, open spaces at ground level. "What's quite unique about Putney Hill is there's so much green space, so much open space," says Evan Black, senior associate at Environmental Partnership Landscape Architects, who designed the outdoor community spaces.
"The development has basically 50 per cent open space and very few developments are like that. It does have quite a unique centrepiece of the parkland which is quite appealing to young families and families of all ages," he says, referring to 2.4-hectare Lardelli Park, which has a pond in the centre, children's playground, plus walking and running tracks dotted with fitness stations in addition to recreational facilities such as table tennis and basketball courts.
Black says they also kept several of the original trees that were on the site. "That's something that is unique with Frasers Property, they do have an understanding of retaining trees and how important it is to have them," he says. Figs dating back to 1910 remain, as does a centuries-old brush box. "It starts right at the doorstep," he says. "At Victoria Road they have retained all these palms, these giant Canary Island palms and then as soon as you turn in you have this giant 200-year-old tree that's 30 metres tall and about 30 metres wide and the buildings actually wrap around this tree to retain it and they've worked very hard and tirelessly retaining this significance of the landscape prior." 
While apartments are usually associated with high-density living, Lowe says the intention with Putney Hill was to redefine the classic Australian neighbourhood. "In years past, I know when I grew up, it was a cul de sac environment and you were fairly safe playing a game of street cricket, and this is recreating that feeling," he says. "It's a fairly quiet and serene environment away from the main roads and the first thing that hits people when they come to the community is the amount of greenery and open space".
Peak apartments start at $650,000 for a one-bedroom, $820,000 for two-bedroom and $1.325 million for three-bedroom. Completion is expected to be mid-2018.