Metropolitics

To Prevent Worsening Inequality, Put Affluent Neighborhoods on NYC Rezoning List

Moses Gates — 2015-11-17T06:00:00Z

Mandatory Inclusionary Zoning is meant to boost the affordable housing supply and create more economically integrated and more equitable neighborhoods. But in New York, it matters crucially how – and where – the program is applied. Moses Gates argues that if Mayor Bill de Blasio is unwilling to rezone affluent neighborhoods as well as poorer ones, he won't make a dent in the city's inequality problem.
In the days of our current housing crunch and focus on transit-oriented development, there

- Debates / housing, inequalities, density, New York, densification, affordable housing, zoning, inclusionary zoning

Splitting suburban homes

2014-10-01T04:50:00Z

Many local stakeholders in the Paris region have expressed concern regarding the emergence of a process of “spontaneous” subdivision of the area's suburban fabric. This dynamic, while potentially virtuous, is proving hard to predict by authorities and is causing uncontrolled densification that is altering the day-to-day functioning of the neighbourhoods concerned. In addition, it may also be masking questionable practices on the part of unscrupulous landlords.
Over the last decade, growth in

- From the Field / Paris region, housing, urban planning, urban development, housing estates, suburbs, Greater Paris, densification, subdivisions, suburban subdivision, real-estate renewal

“Soft densification” in Canada

Anastasia Touati & translated by Oliver Waine — 2013-06-05T09:41:09Z

Against the backdrop of a housing crisis, a number of local authorities in Ontario, Canada, have developed policies to encourage the creation of “accessory apartments” or “secondary suites” – in other words, new dwellings within single-family homes. Anastasia Touati analyses the advantages, as well as the ambiguities, of this novel form of residential densification.
Urban densification: a range of possibilities
For the last 15 years, densification has been at the heart of sustainable urban

- From the Field / housing, density, housing estates, Canada, densification, subdivisions, crisis, affordable housing, accessory dwelling units