Toronto’s Little Jamaica Neighborhood finds itself at the forefront of the city’s affordable housing crisis. Inclusionary zoning, which requires new large-scale developments to designate a small percentage of their units as affordable housing for a short period of time, is one of the main strategies. In the case of Little Jamaica, however, this is not an option as it was excluded from the city-wide IZ Zoning plan.

Decentralized Density proposes an alternative approach that focuses on encouraging homeowners to create alternative affordable housing options on their existing properties. By densifying the community in this way, we incentivize locals to participate in the solution, provide neighborhood amenities, and reduce the growing reliance on developers to provide affordability in statistically cost-prohibitive housing typologies.

Advisors: Michael Piper and Otto Ojo

Program: Master of Urban Design

Community garden, laneway, mid-park and street perspectives (above) and typology and phasing diagrams (below) by Becky (Siyi) Tang.