URD1511H
Instructor: Mark Guslits
Fridays, 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

The course is open to Urban Design, Architecture, and Planning graduate students. It will focus on urban/affordable housing which, in the 21st century, means a mix of market and non-market housing within a context of mixed income/mixed tenure communities. During this Fall Term we will examine the evolution of housing thought, policy and built form - particularly in Canada where we are moving closer to positioning housing/shelter as a right rather than a privilege.

The course will consist of a mixture of lectures from faculty and from knowledgeable guests in the form of traditional lectures, panel discussions, round-table discussions, and studio type one-to-one dialogue. As some of the speakers will be located out of the city, there may be times when classes will occur on-line and/ or speaker shall appear on-line. Field trips to tour some of the more important mixed income housing communities in Toronto built over the last 30-40 years such as Regent Park, and the St. Lawrence Community will be undertaken with experts on those sites who will lead the tours on site (ideally) or virtually when necessary or through graphic presentations.

As part of the path to understanding, the global context will also be examined during the term. Precedents from other cities, provinces, countries, and other cultures (i.e. Helsinki, Vienna, Vancouver, Mumbai, Hong Kong) will be examined in an effort to better understand how we are proceeding here at home and how we might improve our approach to the challenge facing all cities – the provision of good housing supply and housing affordability within an excellent urban planning and architectural design framework.