Resources
Relevant Academic Research
Beyond perception: Spatial analysis of detached ADU potential on residential lots in Windsor, Ontario
Cipkar, S., Maoh, H., Dimatulac, T., Fathers, F., Arcis, S., & Smit, A. (2023). Beyond perception: Spatial analysis of detached ADU potential on residential lots in Windsor, Ontario. Canadian Geographer / Le Géographe Canadien. https://doi.org/10.1111/cag.12840
This paper analyzes the spatial potential of detached additional dwelling units (ADUs) in Windsor, Ontario. A new GIS model, which integrates various geoprocessing commands in ArcGIS 10.8.1, is developed to calculate whether the minimum allowable size of a detached ADU can fit within the total buildable area of a residential property, based on the setbacks, the lot coverage requirements, and other factors (such as parking and flood plain areas). The model uses publicly sourced data that were obtained from the City of Windsor's Open Data Portal. More specifically, individual residential parcels and associated building footprints along with street centerlines are used as inputs to the model. The outputs are then categorized into three types (suitable, potentially suitable, and not suitable) to demonstrate where detached ADUs can be built in compliance with the local zoning bylaws, on both an individual lot basis and at an aggregate level. The conducted analysis reveals the potential of existing residential neighbourhoods in a mid‐size city, and has many implications for homeowners, policymakers, and researchers with respect to increasing housing supply within current Canadian municipalities.
Why Did the “Missing Middle” Miss the Train? An Actors-In-Systems Exploration of Barriers to Intensified Family Housing in Waterloo Region, Canada
Parker, D. C., Sharif, S. V., & Webber, K. (2023). Why did the “Missing Middle” miss the Train? An Actors-In-Systems exploration of barriers to intensified family housing in Waterloo Region, Canada. Land, 12(2), 434. https://doi.org/10.3390/land12020434
(1) Background: Missing Middle (MM) housing may be critical to address decreasing housing affordability and to achieve critical density in transit-oriented neighborhoods; however, its production is in decline. We report on a case study of housing development around a new light-rail transit line in the Region of Waterloo, Canada, investigating the puzzle of how a residential building boom coincided with decreasing housing affordability. (2) Methods: Following participatory co-creation and communication of background research characterizing housing demand with stakeholder partners, we created a data narrative arguing that MM housing was desired by residents and profitable for developers and then used it to guide semi-structured interviews with planners and real estate industry stakeholders. Based on these interviews, we developed a qualitative system map and causal loop diagrams that demonstrate interactions between key actors (residents, brokers, planners, developers, and investors) as mediated by boundedly rational real estate demand expectations. (3) Results: Our interviews identify multi-faceted barriers, beyond demand perception, to MM housing development. Systems analysis illustrates how high-density, small-unit high-rise development can become locked in, concurrently locking out MM housing. (4) Conclusions: Our research identifies barriers to MM housing supply by articulating the systemic feedbacks between the planning and land/housing market realms and reveals key leverage points, empowering planners to develop policies that catalyze hoped-for housing market supply responses to increase housing affordability. Based on these findings, we suggest targeted interventions: multi-unit base residential zoning, MM site plan typologies, non-profit and co-op financing, unit-mix requirements, pre-build MM condo purchase by municipalities or non-profits, and MM demonstration projects.
ADUs and the Just City: How additional dwelling units can shape urban environments toward equitable outcomes in Canadian cities
Cipkar, S. (2023). ADUs and the Just City: How additional dwelling units can shape urban environments toward equitable outcomes in Canadian cities. Frontiers in Sustainable Cities, 4. https://doi.org/10.3389/frsc.2022.1053439
Using the model of a Just City the goal of this paper is to contribute to the discussion of additional dwelling units (ADUs) by connecting disparate literature on ADUs in North America to the body of spatial justice and posit a way forward that recognizes the drawbacks of a system of individual property ownership, while hypothesizing that more equitable outcomes could be achieved through the inclusion of ADUs within the private market system through government regulation. This paper argues that through the lens of equity, democracy, and diversity, ADUs have the potential to lead to more just outcomes within a privatized market housing system, where homeownership is both the dominant tenure and ideology. Accounting for the inequities of informal ADUs and the contradictions within a capitalist, financialised housing system, new pathways are conceived to both encourage and regulate the ADUs to ensure security of tenure and protection against market pressures.
Secondary suites: A survey of evidence and municipal policy.
Harris, R., & Kinsella, K. (2017). Secondary suites: A survey of evidence and municipal policy. Canadian Geographer / Le Géographe Canadien, 61(4), 493–509. https://doi.org/10.1111/cag.12424
Secondary suites (accessory apartments) account for about a quarter of all rental units in Canadian urban areas but their character and significance is poorly understood. Self-contained, they have been created through the subdivision of single-family dwellings. They are a flexible housing form, responding readily to shifts in local market conditions. They have become more common because few purpose-built apartments have been erected since the 1970s. Many fail to conform to zoning, building, health, or occupancy regulations, and hence elude accurate enumeration. They provide an income supplement to mortgaged homeowners, affordable accommodation to lower-income persons and families, and allow seniors to age in place. Official attitudes towards suites, once hostile, have become more encouraging, despite resistance from some property owners concerned about parking and property values. We need to know more about this vital element in Canada's urban scene.
Death to Single-Family Zoning…and New Life to the Missing Middle
Wegmann, J. (2019). Death to Single-Family Zoning. . .and new life to the missing middle. Journal of the American Planning Association, 86(1), 113–119. https://doi.org/10.1080/01944363.2019.1651217
Planners in the United States and Canada should stop defending single-family zoning, the single most harmful widely used practice in planning. In the century since first adoption, it has exacerbated both inequality and climate change. Land use regulations that make a singly occupied, detached house on a large parcel the only allowable option should be replaced, wherever they exist, with new rules that allow medium-density, or “Missing Middle,” housing to be built by right. These changes should be applied broadly at the scale of an entire city or, best of all, a state, rather than piecemeal. Encouraging recent events in Minneapolis (MN), Oregon, and elsewhere show that single-family zoning is being seriously challenged for the first time, but more progress is needed.
Relatives or rentals? Secondary suites through a multigenerational family lens
Goodbrand, P., Humphrey, T., & Gondek, J. (2017). Relatives or rentals? Secondary suites through a multigenerational family lens. Canadian Geographer / Le Géographe Canadien, 61(4), 525–539. https://doi.org/10.1111/cag.12399
Most discussions and debates surrounding secondary suites in Canada focus on the law and market factors as they relate to a rental unit, often at the expense of social behaviours that drive the need for such housing options. An analysis of 294 publicly available applications for land use amendments to the City of Calgary through the Calgary Planning Commission show that one in four applicants are proposing suites for family reasons. The reasons include: 1) fostering generational independence, 2) ease of providing care for family members, 3) sharing household tasks and expenses, and 4) facilitating the immigration of family members and accommodating visiting family. This paper presents a different perspective on secondary suites, one that is relatively understudied as a result of limited definitions of terminology to describe experiences and the use of home spaces. A broader understanding of family is recommended to encourage decisions on secondary suite applications that appreciate social behaviour equally with planning regulations.
Secondary suites, second‐class citizens: The history and geography of Calgary's most controversial housing policy
Van Der Poorten, K., & Miller, B. (2017). Secondary suites, second‐class citizens: The history and geography of Calgary’s most controversial housing policy. Canadian Geographer / Le Géographe Canadien, 61(4), 564–578. https://doi.org/10.1111/cag.12425
Most discussions and debates surrounding secondary suites in Canada focus on the law and market factors as they relate to a rental unit, often at the expense of social behaviours that drive the need for such housing options. An analysis of 294 publicly available applications for land use amendments to the City of Calgary through the Calgary Planning Commission show that one in four applicants are proposing suites for family reasons. The reasons include: 1) fostering generational independence, 2) ease of providing care for family members, 3) sharing household tasks and expenses, and 4) facilitating the immigration of family members and accommodating visiting family. This paper presents a different perspective on secondary suites, one that is relatively understudied as a result of limited definitions of terminology to describe experiences and the use of home spaces. A broader understanding of family is recommended to encourage decisions on secondary suite applications that appreciate social behaviour equally with planning regulations.
Hidden density in single-family neighborhoods: backyard cottages as an equitable smart growth strategy
Wegmann, J., & Chapple, K. (2014). Hidden density in single-family neighborhoods: backyard cottages as an equitable smart growth strategy. Journal of Urbanism: International Research on Placemaking and Urban Sustainability, 7(3), 307–329. https://doi.org/10.1080/17549175.2013.879453
Most discussions and debates surrounding secondary suites in Canada focus on the law and market factors as they relate to a rental unit, often at the expense of social behaviours that drive the need for such housing options. An analysis of 294 publicly available applications for land use amendments to the City of Calgary through the Calgary Planning Commission show that one in four applicants are proposing suites for family reasons. The reasons include: 1) fostering generational independence, 2) ease of providing care for family members, 3) sharing household tasks and expenses, and 4) facilitating the immigration of family members and accommodating visiting family. This paper presents a different perspective on secondary suites, one that is relatively understudied as a result of limited definitions of terminology to describe experiences and the use of home spaces. A broader understanding of family is recommended to encourage decisions on secondary suite applications that appreciate social behaviour equally with planning regulations.
Subterranean commodification: Informal housing and the legalization of basement suites in Vancouver from 1928 to 2009
Méndez, P., & Quastel, N. (2015). Subterranean Commodification: Informal Housing and the Legalization of Basement Suites in Vancouver from 1928 to 2009. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 39(6), 1155–1171. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2427.12337
This article draws on Margaret Radin's theorization of ‘contested commodities' to explore the process whereby informal housing becomes formalized while also being shaped by legal regulation. In seeking to move once-informal housing into the domain of official legality, cities can seldom rely on a simple legal framework of private-law principles of property and contract. Instead, they face complex trade-offs between providing basic needs and affordability and meeting public-law norms around living standards, traditional neighbourhood feel and the environment. This article highlights these issues through an examination of the uneven process of legal formalization of basement apartments in Vancouver, Canada. The authors chose a lengthy period—from 1928 to 2009—to explore how basement apartments became a vital source of housing often at odds with city planning that has long favoured a low-density residential built form. They suggest that Radin's theoretical account makes it possible to link legalization and official market construction with two questions: whether to permit commodification and how to permit commodification. Real-world commodification processes—including legal sanction—reflect hybridization, pragmatic decision making and regulatory compromise. The resolution of questions concerning how to legalize commodification are also intertwined with processes of market expansion.
Backyards: Way Forward Assessing the potential for detached secondary suites in Toronto
Kelsey Carriere, University of Toronto, 2017
This article draws on Margaret Radin's theorization of ‘contested commodities' to explore the process whereby informal housing becomes formalized while also being shaped by legal regulation. In seeking to move once-informal housing into the domain of official legality, cities can seldom rely on a simple legal framework of private-law principles of property and contract. Instead, they face complex trade-offs between providing basic needs and affordability and meeting public-law norms around living standards, traditional neighbourhood feel and the environment. This article highlights these issues through an examination of the uneven process of legal formalization of basement apartments in Vancouver, Canada. The authors chose a lengthy period—from 1928 to 2009—to explore how basement apartments became a vital source of housing often at odds with city planning that has long favoured a low-density residential built form. They suggest that Radin's theoretical account makes it possible to link legalization and official market construction with two questions: whether to permit commodification and how to permit commodification. Real-world commodification processes—including legal sanction—reflect hybridization, pragmatic decision making and regulatory compromise. The resolution of questions concerning how to legalize commodification are also intertwined with processes of market expansion.
Detached Accessory Dwelling Units – Who benefits and who pays?
Ashley Salvador, University of Waterloo, 2020
This research examines DADUs from an affordability lens, addressing both affordability for renters and whether or not DADUs are affordable to build. A policy comparison of nine municipalities in Canada and the United States is used to determine DADU best practices and what characteristics are shared by municipalities that have had high DADU uptake. In addition, a secondary analysis of Edmonton DADU permitting data is used to analyze the spatial distribution of DADUs as it pertains to affordability. Finally, a survey of DADU owners and residents interested in building in Edmonton is used to examine barriers to develop. Tenants of DADUs were not surveyed.
Findings from the policy comparison suggest that municipalities looking to spur DADU development should focus on reducing onerous regulations to allow for flexibility in DADU size, height, and orientation. Eliminating parking minimums, owner occupancy requirements, location restrictions, and contextual regulations that require DADU height and size to be subsidiary to the principle dwelling will help create the conditions in which a successful DADU market can take root.
Related Academic Research
Social policies, financial markets and the multi-scalar governance of affordable housing in Toronto.
Zhang, B. (2019). Social policies, financial markets and the multi-scalar governance of affordable housing in Toronto. Urban Studies, 57(13), 2628–2645. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042098019881368
While housing has been a central object of financialisation, questions regarding how multi-scalar states shape the financialisation of housing remain under-researched. The author addresses this knowledge gap through a case study of the financialisation of affordable housing in Toronto. By analysing pertinent policy documents, she examines the roles and relationship of the federal, provincial and local states in the financialisation of affordable housing. Two findings are highlighted. (1) Although policies from all levels of government show traits of financialisation – in terms of both the connection between social policy and financial markets, and financialised ideologies prevailing in policy discourses, the extent and pattern of the manifestation of financialisation are distinct. This research thus calls for a nuanced understanding of the state’s role in the financialisation of housing from a multi-scalar perspective. (2) Affordable housing policies usually do not give an explicit definition of ‘affordable’. By scrutinising the policy specifications, the author found that the target group is mainly moderate-income, rather than low-income, households. It will be increasingly difficult for low- income households to meet their housing needs.
Neighbourhood rebuilding and affordable housing in Canadian cities
Tsenkova, S. (2022). Neighbourhood rebuilding and affordable housing in Canadian cities. Urban Research & Practice, 15(5), 773–788. https://doi.org/10.1080/17535069.2022.2082023
A growing affordability problem in Canadian cities has prompted a renewed commitment of the federal government, complemented with provincial and municipal programs, to increase the supply of affordable rental housing. Recently, large Canadian cities have joined their efforts with non-profit and private organisations to provide affordable rental housing in mixed-income experimental projects. In this context, the research addresses a significant gap in the evaluation of partnerships, focusing on the nature of multi- agency collaborations in the provision process (design, build, finance, operate). Partnerships capitalise on the effective role of the public sector in the mobilization of resources, the efficiencies of private agencies in the development process (design, build) and the hybridity of the non-profit institutions (management, service delivery). The research develops a conceptual framework, based on the political market model to explain adoption of planning and housing policies by municipalities. It presents a typology of afford- able housing partnerships using highlights from case studies in large Canadian cities – Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal.
The uneven geography of housing affordability stress in Canadian metropolitan areas
Bunting, T. E., Walks, A., & Filion, P. (2004). The uneven geography of housing affordability stress in Canadian metropolitan areas. Housing Studies, 19(3), 361–393. https://doi.org/10.1080/0267303042000204287
Housing in‐affordability is a growing problem within Canadian urban areas. This research asks an as‐yet unanswered spatial question: where do those suffering high rates of housing affordability stress reside and what do the spatial patterns imply about policies intended to address this housing problem? This paper tabulates and maps the spatial distribution of households that pay excessive amounts of their income for rent in order to identify locations within metropolitan regions where housing affordability stress is greatest. It is found that significant unevenness characterises the spatial distribution of housing affordability problems in major Canadian census metropolitan areas (CMAs). Only a minority of places conform to the North American stereotype that concentrates this problem near the city centre. Where some CMAs have concentrations of the problem in the inner city or, alternatively inner suburb, other metropolitan areas exhibit a more diffuse pattern of housing in‐affordability. The locus of the problem is also variable depending on whether the household is of the family or non‐family type. The interpretation of the uneven patterns relates broadly to features of supply and demand that have been identified in previous research. From both a policy and theoretical perspective this work demonstrates that greater attention needs to be paid to the spatial aspects of housing affordability and to the related, economically‐induced risk of homelessness in Canadian metropolitan areas.
Rethinking Canada’s housing affordability challenge
Hulchanski, J. D. (2005). Rethinking Canada’s housing affordability challenge. Prepared for the Government of Canada’s Canadian Housing Framework Initiative.
Canada is able to build safe and adequate housing appropriate to the needs of all its households. That is, there are no physical, institutional, or financial impediments, no shortage of building supplies, construction workers, or mortgage financing to supply adequate housing for all. After the Second World War, improvements in housing finance, residential land servicing and building techniques, materials, and regulations produced high-quality housing for the vast majority of Canadian households. So why are some Canadians still poorly housed or unhoused?
The inability of a country as wealthy as Canada to adequately house all its people is usually called a housing affordability problem. This vague term became common about thirty years ago, when it was no longer appropriate to talk about specific problems such as the postwar housing shortage or the slum problem or the inadequate mortgage lending system – since, for the most part, these problems had been addressed. There is, however, something unsatisfactory about policy analysts’ use of housing affordability as a problem definition. Policy experts seldom debate what it really means or ought to mean. Yet it is used in the media and everyday language as if it meant something specific. The term alludes to income levels and housing costs, so it seems to make sense. But policy experts ought to do better at naming the specific problem or group of problems – so as to better define solutions.
Canada’s Dual Housing Policy: Assisting Owners, Neglecting Renters
Hulchanski, J.D. (2007) Canada’s Dual Housing Policy: Assisting Owners, Neglecting Renters. Centre for Urban and Community Studies, Research Bulletin #38.
Higher Density and Affordable Housing: Lessons from the Corridor Housing Initiative
Forsyth, A., Nicholls, G., & Raye, B. (2010). Higher Density and Affordable Housing: Lessons from the Corridor Housing Initiative. Journal of Urban Design, 15(2), 269–284. https://doi.org/10.1080/13574801003638079
The Corridor Housing Initiative (CHI), now the Corridor Development Initiative, in Minneapolis-St. Paul, is a collaborative process to assist planning, designing and developing higher density and affordable housing along major transit corridors. These locations provide access to transportation options, retail amenities, parks and job opportunities. As a programme of community capacity building, it gives local residents the skills to be active participants in attracting and shaping development that fits their own values as well as city goals and development realities. Design is used to help resolve the potential conflicts between neighbourhood values, development constraints and city goals.