Designed by CS&P Architects, the Regent Park Community Centre and an adjacent school are integral to their neighbourhood. Photo by Shai Gil
A couple of years ago, I returned to study the social housing community where I lived as a child, before my mother completed her post-secondary education and moved us to a suburban enclave. The research aimed to explore how social and spatial issues contributed to community challenges such as isolation, despair and violence. While I witnessed a number of disturbing incidents in my childhood community, an under-aged sex trade that tragically claimed the life of a friend?s older sister haunted me.
North America?s social housing dates back to the 1930s, when the first state-run initiatives had three aims: to initiate the systematic clearance of slums; to resolve and prevent public health risks emerging from slums; and to squelch public unrest and insolvency resulting from both the Depression and the postwar era. While some early social housing advocates hoped to provide stable housing for low-income and working-class families, the approach wasn?t particularly collaborative. Within a relatively short period of time, a large number of social housing communities were developed, mostly in the Corbusian ?towers in the park? style favoured by Robert Moses. When auditing my childhood community, I noted a number of design deficiencies resulting from this approach. The height and girth of my former building obstructs access to a park and ravine...