The latest competition from City Hall:
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As part of the work being done by the Mayor’s Task Force on Housing Affordability, re:THINK HOUSING, an open ideas competition, is being launched to generate a broader discussion of possibilities for Vancouver’s affordable housing crisis.
Aimed at everyone who has an interest in affordable housing, from the general public, to designers, planners and architects, to philanthropists, non profits and financial institutions, the Ideas Competition seeks to create the space for provocative, bold new ideas that address Vancouver’s affordability challenge head-on.
Winners will be chosen by both the public and a jury comprised of five members of the task force; $8,000 will be awarded in prize money. The deadline is June 29th, and all winning entries will be announced in late July, as well as published in the Fall 2012 national issue of Spacing magazine.
For more information, go here.
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Some idea-provoking reading:
The Hottest Trends in Urban Housing – from Atlantic Cities
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Six Ideas for Sensible Homes – from Nation of Change
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Do the density, but spare the hi-rises – from Seattle’s Crosscut:
Today, density is being pursued as an end in itself, rather than as one means to building better cities. According to research by the Preservation Green Lab, fine-grained urban fabric -– for example of a type found on Washington’s Capitol Hill, the U Street Corridor, NOMA, and similar neighborhoods — is much more likely to foster local entrepreneurship and the creative economy than monolithic office blocks and apartment towers.
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Seattle neighborhoods fight needed land use reform, density – from Seattle’s Crosscut:
How did earnest, liberal, Birkenstock-wearing activists pushing for parks, play equipment, sidewalks, and kiosks turn into affluent, highly motivated saboteurs of new development, change, and density? Three things happened in the last two decades that shifted neighborhoods from the “what we want” caucus to the “what we won’t” lobby.
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Finding The Middle Ground Between Affordable Housing and Land Use Advocacy – from Next American City
“We just need to crank up the government subsidies” isn’t the answer. “Just eliminate all restrictions on building and let the market sort it out” isn’t, either. It’s not clear what the right answer is, but we need affordable housing groups thinking about economics and economists thinking about human factors to figure it out.
Thanks to Tom Durning for the links.
