This thesis deals with the social relations within two feminist-inspired housing co-operatives in Montreal by employing the analytical tool of social network from an interactionist perspective. The housing co-op milieu is a highly suitable terrain for reflections on feminist urban theory. 'Public' and 'private' space, identity and place, and 'community' and community development are central themes addressed in this study. / Members of each co-op were interviewed using a semi-directed interview guide. Social interaction is analysed qualitatively and focuses on the content of exchanges between co-op residents and patterns of socialising. The study concludes with an analysis of spatial micropolitics in terms of conflict and co-operation.

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published_or_final_version / Housing Management / Master / Master of Housing Management

This thesis examines the strategy of community economic development (CED) to potentially alleviate some of the hardships women experience in obtaining both adequate income through employment and access to transitional (crisis) housing. These two distinct yet inter-related problems have been selected to provide a manageable scope for this thesis and as a result of my own keen interest and involvement in these two areas: employment and crisis housing for women. Indeed, as a comprehensive development strategy, CED may provide the means to effectively deal with the broader complex of disadvantages such as social and economic dependency, marginalization and isolation by providing opportunities for independence and social change. Women are concentrated in low paid occupations, earn 62% of what men earn (1980), experience high unemployment and a number of employment barriers including subtle and/or overt discrimination and a double burden of work and family responsibilities. Women earn 30% (1980) of the total income in B.C., experience a disproportionate amount of poverty as individuals and as single parent family heads, and are twice as likely as men to report government transfer payments as our main source of income. In addition, one in ten women who are married or in a live-in relationship with a lover is battered, and only 50% have access to a transition house or hostel which accepts women who are battered. Due to full capacities, those houses that do exist regularly must refuse access. CED is a very simple concept intended to address very serious and complex economic and social conditions. The ultimate goal is to improve the quality of life of community members through community initiated and supported economic and social activity which generates employment, wealth, community benefit and a great degree of self-esteem. Community is defined here as women who share a common view or ideology and interest in employment and crisis housing provisions. Through the development of women's enterprises, employment may be generated and profits channelled to the creation and operation of transition houses. CED provides a means for incremental change through planning, and specifically, women planning for women to take greater control of our lives. Having entered a "new reality" within this province complete with restraint and privatization and increasing unemployment with associated economic and social costs, CED appears increasingly favourable, particularly for women. Unemployment and violence is increasing while resources and solutions lacking. The opportunity to examine the potential of CED to meet the objectives as stated is provided through the development of a potential scenario and considerations which must be made to increase the probability of success. If women are to experiment with CED, thorough planning must occur within a long-term development strategy. CED is not easy and provides no quick-fix solution to the disadvantages women experience. When consideration of organizational activities, capacity levels and other factors required for success is undertaken, in addition to a realistic examination of the potential and obstacles for CED, good results may occur. CED should be approached both enthusiastically and cautiously. It is my hope that women's organizations will take up the challenge and test the potential. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

The single-parent family is an established household form in North American and Western European societies, yet today's homes are often built and marketed for the two-earner household. Inadequate and unaffordable housing is a source of daily stress in the lives of single parents. This thesis investigates the problems and concerns of the female single parents described in the literature, and reviews selected examples of single-parent housing projects developed in North America and Europe. A comparison is made with a particular group of female single parents living in the Point St. Charles neighborhood of Montreal. / A review of the difficulties faced by this group is provided, particularly their housing concerns and the types of housing available to them. A brief historical overview of Point St. Charles is given so that the reader may better understand the group of female single parents surveyed. / An analysis of the survey results reveals that although many of the problems and concerns of single parents described in the literature are similar to those identified in the present survey, few generalizations can be made about their housing problems.

This thesis examines the relationship between women's empowerment and low-income housing sustainability. It argues that housing projects and policies should be designed to enable women take control of their environment, which would not only profit women but ensure economic and social sustainability of the neighborhood, benefiting all its other residents as well as the city. The thesis discusses how housing policies have failed to empower women and analyzes the manner in which a built environment can empower its female residents and consequently be enriched by them, as exemplified by three decades of history of an isolated neighborhood called Mountain Sights situated in the outskirts of Montreal.

Housing typologies based on the traditional family no longer satisfy the needs of the majority of households. Woman-led families are impeded in their search for appropriate housing by their low wages and family responsibilities, compounded by the blindness of housing-policy makers to their existence. Historical models of collective dwellings are steeped in the ideology of the period and yield few direct practical solutions to the current dilemma. The richness of this housing, however, which evolved during a time of dramatic social change underscores the blandness of current housing solutions. Feminists insist that housing and urban design solutions should challenge the gender defined roles of "homemaker" and "childcare giver" and the restricted mobility of women in cities and suburbs. The endorsement of new housing typologies must be translated into their realisation and subsequent analysis.

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