Lead: James Banks (University of Waterloo)
Completion: March 2018
This thesis develops a housing framework for the private sector to build dwellings for a range of incomes and promotes ideas of respectfully transitioning low-density neighbourhoods to affordable housing. It proposes a three-pronged approach of neighbourhood improvement, flexible design for occupant control, and a focus on sharing. Ultimately, the framework aims to provoke disruption in the housing market in response to crisis conditions by making living more communal, shifting the emphasis from investment to human capital, and by reinstating affordability as a key factor in housing design.
Photo: James Banks
Photo: James Banks
Photo: James Banks
Photo: James Banks
Photo: James Banks
“A well-researched and timely thesis, Domestic Insurgency offers a thorough reading of the issues that could lead to a more equitable and mixed-income housing ecosystem for Vancouver. From zoning through to efficient and shared space planning, the author provides a blueprint that acknowledges the bottom line, while justifiably (and pointedly) questioning a system that allows the big to get bigger.”