Affordable Housing for the Future

Introduction:

Affordable housing is currently a hot topic amongst communities across Canada. The housing crisis commenced shortly after 1993 when the government withheld funding for new projects. Since 2001, a new Canada, provincial affordable housing program has been put in place. The provision of affordable housing not only offers shelter to a household but can act as a catalyst for the city, downtown, or neighborhood to revitalize and fix its existing conditions. This thesis explores many aspects of affordable housing from the evolution and typologies to perceptions and opportunities.

This topic is complex because there is no one right answer. Parts of the equation, exterior forces, are always changing like family formations and lifestyles. The biggest challenge is the perceptions formed around the topic, some of which are not even true. Case studies of projects from around the world to the recent affordable housing projects located in St. Catharine’s help inform the design principles and strategies. The principles and strategies can encourage designers to create better affordable housing that will benefit everyone involved. The design principles incorporate all scales, ranging from the city to the individual unit, necessary to provide successful affordable housing.

Affordable Housing:

The average Canadian in 1945 was well housed; adequate with working plumbing. Canadians today are among the best housed people but it is on an unequal ground. Affordability has been a recurring problem throughout the years. The housing policy objectives continue to ensure that all Canadians are decently housed and that housing is affordable and available. Social housing is needed for two reasons.

First, the housing conditions for the low-income people are substandard. Secondly, it was believed that the private market was incapable of providing adequate housing at an affordable cost. The 1938 National Housing Act (NHA) provided subsidized joint mortgage loans for the construction of public housing by local housing agencies. NHA amendments in 1944 introduced urban renewal programs and rents geared to income.

Downtowns:

Some cities just happen to “get it right” be it the form, scale, structure, diversity of activities or any combination of these. Since the 1940’s, Canada’s population has become increasingly urbanized with people shifting to the larger cities. After the Second World War, a baby boom occurred with newly formed families of returning veterans who had a desire to live in the city. This trend triggered a housing shortage in the city and prompted families to seek out better home environments. Suburban living became the popular solution.

Typologies:

During the early twentieth century, Karel Teige was studying the small apartment (minimal dwelling); the basic housing option for family households. Teige participated in the Third International Congress of Modern Architecture that was held in Brussels and discussed the subject of high, medium or low-rise houses with small apartments. No single solution was offered from the congress and Teige concluded that “…until it has been established which social class a given housing type is to serve, it will not be possible to provide a correct answer…” There is no one type of affordable housing.

It comes in all forms such as townhouses, apartments, single and semi-detached houses. These housing forms can be provided by all sectors: private, public and non-for-profit. Th e tenure for these buildings can vary from rental to co-operative ownership to ownership. Affordable housing can refer to any part of the housing continuum from temporary to permanent housing.

NIMBY:

When it comes to social mixing in housing communities, local residents have concerns of loss of property values and personal safety. This perception has remained a myth. Residents also fear change in community ambience, more congested streets and the need for new infrastructure such as schools due to higher density structures. “Non-needy” households resist intrusion into their neighbourhoods. Residents are concerned about certain projects drawing in elements to their neighbourhood that they fi nd undesirable such as low-income families, youth at risk, and people with disabilities. This syndrome is referred to as NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard). The idolization of the single family home and failed images of subsidized housing contributed to the creation of NIMBY.

Future Affordable Housing:

“What we need instead are creative strategies to keep housing affordable within dense neighbourhoods that are served by amenities within walking distance, and by good public transit.”

Creating affordable housing is in itself a challenge as well as keeping it affordable in the future. Past social housing developments built prior to 2001 operate on federal subsidies. The subsidies are attached to the specific units and not the inhabitants. Th e federal subsidies on these existing units will expire over the next 25 years. A big concern here is how to keep the existing stock affordable over time once subsidies expire. The cost of new construction is rising because the cost of material is more expensive; government regulations and bureaucratic red-tape, approval processes, and zoning and land use policies.

Conclusion:

Affordable housing is a complex and diverse topic of study that incorporates a multiple of viewing lenses on perception and perspective. This thesis aims to educate and change the misperceptions of affordable housing by providing an affordable housing design proposal that would act as a catalyst for the community. Through research and case studies, a synthesis of design principles were developed that could be applied to similar housing proposals universally. When these principles are implemented, the provision of quality affordable housing that reflects the people’s needs and better the community around them will be better articulated.

Also Read: Equilibrium Effects of Housing Subsidies: Evidence from a Policy Notch in Colombia