Housing
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Defining “Viability”…and Who Decides What Counts?
There’s a word that shows up a lot in housing debates—one that tends to end conversations rather than deepen them: viability. I hear this word constantly...
By Erick Villagomez -
Learning From the Tango
Nobody leads in the contemporary version of The Tango. Or put another way, both partners take turns leading. Reflecting on The Tango is how we can...
By scothein -
The Singapore Chronicles: Divergent Models
The city, we’re often told, is a model—something to be learned from, exported, improved. But what happens when models conflict? What if the city itself...
By Erick Villagomez -
UCS #65: King David contemplates the future of BC
See our Launch and Introduction about the launch of the © Urban Cartoon Syndicate and the announcement by CityHallWatch. *** Related Readings: BC...
By Urban Cartoon Syndicate -
The Singapore Chronicles: Designing for Urban Health
In the closing days of our field school, we sat around a modest table in a conference room overlooking the city skyline. It was our final debrief, and the...
By Erick Villagomez -
The Singapore Chronicles: Housing the Nation
Few cities in the contemporary world have made public housing as central to urban life as Singapore has. With over 80% of the population living in flats...
By Erick Villagomez -
Memo to Carney and Robertson on Fixing Housing
[Editor’s note: This letter, signed by 27 prominent B.C. experts in urban planning and architecture, was sent last week to Prime Minister Mark Carney and...
By Erick Villagomez -
The Singapore Chronicles: The Politics of Preservation
Singapore’s skyline is constantly in motion. Construction cranes and hoardings are as much part of the visual identity of the city as its heritage...
By Erick Villagomez -
The Singapore Chronicles: Introduction
Singapore often appears as a paradox—both widely admired and deeply critiqued. It is a city-state that epitomizes precision and planning, where efficiency...
By Erick Villagomez -
UCS #63: A message from Broadway renters to the development community
See our Launch and Introduction about the launch of the © Urban Cartoon Syndicate and the announcement by CityHallWatch. *** Related Readings: The great...
By Urban Cartoon Syndicate -
On Taxes, Exemptions, Loopholes, and Reversals: A System Built for Speculation
In British Columbia, ordinary homeowners pay annual property taxes—and when they buy a home, they pay Property Transfer Tax. In recent years, the Province...
By Erick Villagomez -
The Slow Emergency
The crisis in Vancouver’s housing system isn’t explosive—it’s quiet, procedural, and often disguised as progress. Recently made public, the Broadway...
By Erick Villagomez