Advanced Indirect SW Quiz 2

Tranjan challenges:

the term housing crisis. Believes it is not really a crisis in the traditional sense.

Tranjan argues what about the housing crisis

high rents, evictions, and unaffordable housing are not accidental problems or temporary emergencies. Instead, they are the predictable result of a housing system functioning as designed.

Tranjan believes the housing market benefits who?

Landlords, developers, and investors all profit from rising housing costs while renters experience hardships. The system creates wealth for property owners while extracting wealth from tenants.

Tranjan believes housing is what type of issue:

A political issue, not just an economic issue.

Housing problems are rooted in power relationships and public policy choices rather than simply supply and demand market forces. Real change requires political action and tenant organizing.

According to Tranjan, tenants can be referred to as:

A social class due to the following common experiences:

• Paying rent to property owners

• Having less economic security than owners

• Being vulnerable to rent increases and eviction

• Contributing income to landlords through rent payments.

According to Tranjan, the relationship between tenants and landlords is unequal.

Tranjan challenges that renting is not always temporary because:

Many people rent for most or all of their lives, cannot afford homeownership, and face structural barriers that keep them in the rental market.

What class are tenants disproportionately from according to Tranjan?

Working class.

Emphasis that tenants generally earn less income than homeowners, have fewer assets, and are more likely to experience economic insecurity. This reinforces Tranjan’s claim that tenants form a distinct social and economic group.

What are the myths about the tenant class according to Tranjan?

1. Anyone can become a homeowner if they work hard enough

   1. Ignores wage stagnation, rising housing prices and structural economic barriers.

2. Landlords and tenants have the same interests.

   1. Tenants generally want affordable, stable housing while landlords generally benefit from higher rents and increasing property values.

3. The housing market is neutral

   1. Actually favours property owners and investors.

According to Agrawal, S and Zoe C housing problems result from:

multiple interconnected factors rather than individual choices.

Agrawal & Zoe on Indigenous housing issues:

Housing & homelessness are serious problems in Northern Indigenous communities.

Indigenous people are disproportionately affected

Colonialism continues to affect housing outcomes.

The welfare system contributes to dependency and housing challenges

Remote geography creates unique barriers

Housing problems are interconnected with social change

Government housing policy is inadequate

Agrawal & Zoe suggest homelessness should be understood more broadly

It is not simply lacking shelter. It is often connected to displacement from community, culture, land, family, and social supports.

What is Just Housing according to Levitan-Reid

Beyond simply providing rent assistance, housing should be: affordable, secure and stable, accessible to those who need it most, developed with input from people who have lives experience of housing insecurity.

Housing is a matter of social justice and human rights not just economics.

Key findings on Canada Housing Benefit from Levitan Reid

The CHB does not reach many marginalized renters, does not guarantee affordable housing, does not provide housing security, people with lived experience have little input, the rental market limits the effectiveness of the CHB.

What is the main criticism of the CHB made by Levitan Reid?

The CHB provides some financial assistance but does not ensure affordable, secure, and accessible housing for many marginalized renters because it operates within a housing system marked by shortages, exclusion and discrimination.

Belanger & Goyer on Social Mix

Social mix refers to the idea that people from different income levels and social backgrounds should live in the same neighbourhoods rather than being concentrated in separate areas. Policymakers often argue this promotes inclusion and social cohesion.

Belanger & Goyer on Inclusionary Zoning

Designed to encourage affordable, social, and family housing within new developments. Policy was generally welcomed but also criticized for being too limited.

Belanger & Goyer Main Points:

1. Social mix is used as an important housing policy objective

2. Inclusionary zoning bylaws create more inclusive neighbourhoods.

3. Housing advocacy groups believe the by-law is too limited

4. The policy does not fully address the housing needs of the disadvantaged populations.

5. Questions whether social mix leads to inclusion or reinforces exclusion.

Kruger defines a community land trust (CLT) as:

When a nonprofit keeps land permanently affordable for low-income residents.

The trust owns the land, residents own or occupy the housing on it.

This model is designed to prevent housing from becoming unaffordable over time.

CLT’s are often praised as a way to promote community control & affordable housing.

Krugers main findings on Community Land Trusts:

1. Community was weaker than expected among CLT homeowners, challenging the common assumption that CLTs automatically create close-knit communities

2. Staff played a major role in creating the community. Homeowners frequently reported feeling connected to staff members. Rather than community emerging from neighbour-to-neighbour relationships, it was produced through interactions with the organization itself.

3. People felt connected to future residents - homeowners felt a sense of responsibility toward future CLT homeowners, valuing preserving affordability for people they would never meet (“Imagined Community”)

4. Community is produced, not automatic. Created through relationships, institutions and shared goals

5. Affordable housing & community are different things. CLTs can be successful at preserving affordable housing without necessarily creating strong connections among residents.

Sala-Rios believes what factors matter the most?

Firm-specific. Characteristics of the cooperative itself are more important than industry or geographic factors in explaining profitability.

Sala-Rios believes these factors increase profitability:

Larger size - bigger cooperatives tend to be more profitable. Higher liquidity, indebtedness, regional specialization, location economies, previous profitability,

Sala-Rios believes these factors decrease profitability:

Age of the cooperative - older have lower profitability.

Presence in international markets

According to Gordon-Nembhard, the Black Political Economy examines:

how race and economic systems interact, particularly how anti-black racism and inequality shape economic opportunities and outcomes for Black communities.

According to Gordon-Nembhard solidarity economics emphasizes

Cooperation instead of competition

Community well-being instead of profit maximization

Democratic ownership and decision-making

Mutual aid and collective support

Gordon Nembhard key takeaways:

Combines Black Political Economy and Solidarity Economics as alternatives to traditional capitalism

African American communities have a long history of mutual aid and cooperative ownership

Cooperatives can help marginalized groups build wealth, jobs, and community stability.

Economic democracy and collective ownership are central themes

Argues that liberation requires both economic and social transformation

According to Rodriguez-Oramas Mondragon is

A large network of worker cooperatives that combines worker ownership, democratic participation, economic competitiveness and social responsibility.

According to Rodriguez-Oramas:

Worker participation in decision-making increases organizational commitment

Democratic participation creates stronger emotional attachment to the organization

Worker ownership contributes to commitment and responsibility

Cooperatives can be both democratic and economically competitive.

Karner argues that planners should move beyond a narrow focus on transportation equity and toward transportation justice as:

Environmental justice scholarship and social movements show that tranportation systems often reproduce social inequalities and require deeper structural change.

Transportation equity

typically focuses on whether transportation benefits and burdens are distributed fairly among different populations. It often relies on government-led analyses and planning process.

ex. who has access to transit? which neighborhoods receive transportation investments? who experiences pollution or traffic impacts?

Transportation Justice

Goes farther than transportation equity. Seeks to change the social and political structures that create transportation inequalities in the first place. It emphasizes:

Community power, participation in decision-making, recognition of historical injustices, structural change

According to Karner, how does the state contribute to injustice?

It creates or maintains inequalities through policies and planning decisions.

According to Karner, transportation infrastructure often produces unequal impacts including:

Pollution, noise, safety risks, exposure to law enforcement and limited access to opportunities. These burdens frequently affect low-income communities and racialized groups heavier.

Kapatsila main points:

Rapid transit did not automatically attract more residents to nearby areas.

More affluent renters moves into transit-adjacent areas.

Argue that rapid transit should be planned together with affordable housing policies.

Many cities worry that transit expansion may lead to:

Rising housing costs, neighbourhood change, gentrification, displacement.

What is the difference between use value and exchange value in housing?

Use value = housing as shelter & community

Exchange value = housing as an investment and commodity

Why are use value and exchange value often in tension

Housing serves as both a basic need and an investment, creating conflict over cost, supply and access.

What percentage of Canadian housing is rental?

1/3 (33%)

What percentage of Canadian housing is private?

80-90%

When were most public subsidized housing units built in Canada?

Between 1945-1995

What happened to social housing responsibility in the mid 1990s?

Federal government transferred responsibility to provinces, which often downloaded it to municipalities.

What happened to social housing construction after the mid 1990s?

It dramatically declined.

How does Canada define affordable housing?

Housing costs no more than 30% of gross income before taxes.

Why is Canada currently experiencing a housing crisis?

Many people cannot afford housing without spending a large portion of their income on rent or mortgages.

What are the major factors that increase housing prices?

Land, labour, raw materials, interest rates, lending practices, property taxes, and profit-taking.

Why does land increase housing costs?

Land is finite and demand drives prices up

How do speculators affect housing prices?

They buy and hold land as investments, reducing available supply and increasing prices.

Approximately what proportion of a home’s cost can be attributed to land?

Roughly 30-50%

What are labour costs in housing development?

Costs associated with skilled trades such as carpenters, electricians, and plumbers.

How do development fees affect housing costs?

They help pay for infrastructure like roads, sewers, electricity, and schools.

According to Tranjan, what role do landlords and sellers play in the housing market?

They can earn substantial profits that may reflect exploitative relationships.

How do governments commonly explain the housing crisis?

As a supply problem where demand exceeds available housing.

What is the main policy response to the housing crisis?

Increasing housing supply through large-scale construction.

What is often overlooked in housing policy?

Homeless individuals and people on social housing waitlists.

Why can’t society simply “build its way out” of a housing crisis?

It affects profits, government spending, taxes & other public services.

According to Tranjan, why is the housing crisis partly a myth?

Housing insecurity is a chronic feature of capitalist housing systems; the issue is the degree of crisis.

How does Vienna encourage affordable housing?

Government subsidies for private developers and tenants

What residents utilize Vienna’s social housing?

Low income & middle class

What happens if residents income increases in Vienna’s social housing?

They aren’t forced to leave as it helps maintain the community by allowing them to stay.

What factors determine winning housing proposals in Vienna?

Architectural quality, affordability, social mix, and environmental sustainability.

What is inclusionary zoning?

Public and private housing units mixed in one development

Most common public/private ratio in mixed housing?

20% public, 80% private.

Canada’s most famous socially mixed housing project?

Regent Park redevelopment in Toronto

What is a major criticism of socially mixed housing?

Social mixing between classes & races often does not occur as intended.

What happens to residents of older public housing when it undergoes redevelopment?

They may be relocated for years and do not always get to return.

Why do some view socially mixed housing as gentrification?

It can privatize public land and displace lower-income residents.

What is one advantage of traditional social housing?

More subsidized units can be built than in mixed developments.