The changes in housing policy during the 1990s has been profound. With federal funds for non-market housing no longer available, the Province of British Columbia has attempted to involve municipalities to a greater extent in meeting the housing needs in their communities. However, this has proved to be an immense challenge for many municipalities. Nevertheless, many have reported that they use, or in the future will use, partnerships with other organizations to obtain more affordable housing in their communities. Specifically, partnering with non-profit housing organizations is seen as one means of achieving this. The non-profit organizations, too, find building more affordable housing a challenge, and are interested in working with municipalities where possible. The intent of this research, then, is to analyze the relationships between local governments in B.C. and non-profit societies, and identify some of the barriers that each party faces. The research also examines the roles of some of the other participants in affordable housing. For municipalities, the barriers faced by them to enter housing partnerships are great. A lack of resources, the absence of staff dedicated to housing issues, the lack of staff expertise required to analyze complex housing partnerships, and a lack of commitment on the part of politicians all contribute to the difficulties in having these agreements. The non-profit housing groups also face deterrents, such as small staff sizes, few resources, in some cases, little expertise in development, or ageing board members who do not wish to build new housing. These barriers, however, are not insurmountable, and recommendations are provided to overcome them. It is important to realize that although housing partnerships can be a very effective tool, they are just one of many that municipalities use to meet the housing needs in their communities. Ultimately, housing needs will best be met by having all levels of government, the private and non-profit sectors working together towards common goals.

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This thesis presents a critical exploration of the ‘revitalization’ of Toronto’s Regent Park. Regent Park is Canada’s oldest and largest government subsidized housing development. Originally designed in 1947, Toronto City Council approved the revitalization of the neighbourhood in 2003. Within this thesis, Regent Park serves as a means to examine some of the ways in which urban planning and design, public policy, architecture and landscape architecture interact with people’s daily practices in their socioeconomic and cultural contexts, to ‘rebuild the social’. In order to do this, the thesis begins by presenting an account of the original development, providing a sociohistorical context for understanding the more recent revitalization. Secondly, the thesis provides a review of relevant theoretical literature pertaining to the idea that design shapes society, discussing key aspects of modernist and postmodernist accounts of the city, arguing for the salience of a broadly ‘relational’ model inspired by the work of Julier (2008) and others. Thirdly, the thesis conducts an empirical analysis of the recent revitalization process, using a mixed methodology of documentary analysis and in-depth interviews with a key developer and the residents of Regent’s park. This analysis explores the ideological commitments at play within the planning process, as well as the practice of planning itself, investigating how theories of design and planning relate to the actual process of planning, including the political and financial obligations. The analysis then compares the intentions of the design with the inhabitant’s lived experience within the space, focusing on the inhabitants’ active role in negotiating the space in ways that were ‘unplanned’. This thesis provides a sociological exploration of Regent Park as a complex site of interaction between the design of the space (influenced by theories of design, as well as economic, political and social motivations), the materials that make up that space, and the actual use of the space by residents, the outcomes of which challenge deterministic accounts of urban development. / Thesis (Master, Sociology) -- Queen's University, 2011-09-27 16:29:31.729

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Public housing represents a significant percentage of the housing stock in many developing countries. Its shortcomings have been identified and examined by many scholars and experts in an attempt to investigate the possibilities of growth and adaptability in future projects. Yet, for many years and through their own initiative, public housing dwellers have been engaged in alteration and extension activities aimed at adapting their dwellings to better suit their needs. These activities have resulted in the transformation of entire housing developments in many parts of the world. / Therefore, this study examines the development of transformations in different public housing projects in Egypt and attempts to identify some of the implicit factors that control change at both dwelling and community levels. A wide array of transformation activities were recorded during a survey of twenty projects in Cairo and Alexandria, from which it was possible to establish a typology of transformations and to distinguish between different patterns through which they take place. One project (Ain el Sira) was chosen as a case study in order to examine change of dwelling characteristics from both external and internal aspects. / It was found that user transformation of public housing projects should not be considered as a simple space enlargement process, but rather a result of a complex set of inter-related determinants associated with both context and dwelling characteristics. The finding also revealed that in favourable conditions, users were capable of successfully undertaking transformation activities which not only increased the range of used spaces within housing developments, but also created dynamic multi-functional estates that better respond to changing needs of households. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

This thesis investigated the dimensions of well-being in public housing families. The five indicators used in the evaluation were poor liveability, fear of crime, identification with the project, future aspirations and social ties. Sex, race and age were the independent variables.It was hypothesized that whites would score higher on feelings of well-being than blacks and that there is a direct relationship between age and feelings of well-being or avowed happiness. The final hypothesis stated that the family's dimension of well-being would be predicted by the characteristics of the project where they lived.The data did not support any of the hypotheses; explanations for the findings are offered as well as suggestions for further research.