Mayor’s Task Force on Housing Affordability names competition winners

The winners in the City of Vancouver’s re:THINK HOUSING competition were announced last night at VanDusen Gardens.

As part of the work being done by the Mayor’s Task Force on Housing Affordability, the re:THINK HOUSING ideas competition was 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 was looking for bold new ideas that address Vancouver’s affordability challenge head-on.

The winning entries are now online – among them the winning entry for the “Vibrant Neighbourhoods Public” category from Christina Demarco, Ted Sebastian, and Charles Dobson.

Their concept “Thin Streets: From Asphalt to Affordable Housing” proposes reclaiming land around underutilized streets. “We propose dividing 66’ wide north/south street right-of-ways into equal parts, creating two new 33’ residential lots and a narrower 33’ street right-of-way. The new lots would be developed for affordable housing. A conservative estimate is that over 10,000 homes could be created, tapping into over $2 billion in land value”. Smart.

 

Last modified: July 31, 2012