This project responds to the challenge of creating resilient and dynamic cities, by focusing on families with children living in apartments, who are regularly overlooked in compact city planning policies. The number of families living in apartments in Australia has more than doubled in recent decades, however research has shown that apartments are primarily designed and delivered with the assumption they will be occupied by singles and couples without children. These assumptions are problematic. 1 in 4 apartments in Greater Sydney are home to families with children, however evidence demonstrates higher density housing is not meeting in the needs of family households in terms of size, design, infrastructure, and price points. Research shows that the struggle to find suitable apartments and the challenges and stress that result, lead families to see apartment-living as a transitional rather than long-term option, threatening the resilience of compact city agendas. Adjustments to policies and practice are needed to create socially resilient neighbourhoods that better cater to a diversity of residents. The project will involve synthesizing existing research on families’ experiences of apartment living and translating these academic insights for a policy audience. The policy insights paper will provide actionable recommendations to facilitate policy reform to inform apartment design that better meets the built and social infrastructure needs of families with children living in increasingly dense cities.