In a city where more than 80 per cent of residential land is zoned for single-family houses, a UBC sociology professor says we have to let go of the idea that a house is where a home is.
Nathan Lauster will be at the Museum of 麻豆传媒映画tonight to talk about his new book, Death of the Single-Family House in Vancouver.
He thinks that one of the things that make 麻豆传媒映画such a liveable city is its density. Detached houses 鈥渢end to deaden city life,鈥� he with UBC鈥檚 faculty of arts. 鈥淗ouses are generally surrounded by more houses, with lots of private space and very little public space鈥�. Urban vitality thrives when the private and public are more balanced: when people have places to go and things to do near where they live and they can walk or bike or take transit to get there.鈥�
He doesn鈥檛 suggest that condos are the only alternative, but he does stress that there are people who enjoy condo life and don鈥檛 see it as a lesser alternative to owning a house.
鈥淔or those opposed to densification, I鈥檇 agree that we don鈥檛 need high-rises everywhere,鈥� he said in the UBC story. 鈥淲e want to keep 麻豆传媒映画both liveable and diverse in urban form. But we still have way too many houses to encourage that diversity鈥� At this point, we鈥檝e still got the power of the city, through those old zoning bylaws, keeping anyone but multi-millionaires from settling down in these places. I don鈥檛 think the city should be doing that.鈥�
His public talk tonight (Feb. 22) is . It is being hosted by the at the Museum of 麻豆传媒映画from 7:30 to 9 p.m.
