Perspective Chapter: Reimaging Affordable Housing through Adaptive Reuse of Built Heritage

Abstract

This chapter focuses on adaptive reuse of heritage for affordable housing in Canadian cities. The issue is critical in the context of efforts to create socially inclusive and affordable cities through integrated urban planning, heritage conservation and housing policies. The research has three main components. First, it provides a framework for future urban regeneration emphasising the environmental, economic and social aspects of sustainability. Second, it reviews the synergies between adaptive reuse and affordable housing provision and provides a compelling rationale for their integration. Finally, it outlines three main approaches to adaptive reuse—typological, technical and strategic—arguing for implementation through ‘policy-planning-partnership’ nexus. Using illustrations from successful affordable housing projects through adaptive reuse, the research demonstrates the importance of urban regeneration where strategic investment in diverse, socially cohesive affordable housing sustains the vibrancy and vitality of inner-city neighbourhoods.