What would it take to solve Vancouver’s housing crisis? The not-for-profit organization Urbanarium has issued an invitation to talented designers from around the world to develop and present innovative solutions for Metro Vancouver’s ‘Missing Middle’ housing crisis.

“Statistics show that the Vancouver region faces a housing affordability crisis,” says Richard Henriquez, Urbanarium Board Chair. “While the construction of large single-family houses and high-rise condo tower construction is booming, the challenge we face is the availability of mid-range forms of development that offer affordable housing choices in existing single-family neighbourhoods and along transit arteries.”

The Missing Middle competition was created to connect with designers to generate ideas on how to solve Vancouver’s housing crisis. The Urbanarium committee will assign each entrant one four-block study area drawn from sites in Vancouver, Port Coquitlam, Burnaby and Surrey. Each entrant can select one or two single-family lots within the study area to design new housing that responds to the housing challenge, addresses the local context, and either complies or challenges local plans and by-laws. 

Call for entries deadline: September 22, 2017

The call for entries is open to individuals or teams worldwide and the registration deadline to participate is September 22, 2017. A distinguished panel of judges will review all entries and winning recipients will be honored with recognition and prizes.

For more information on Urbanarium, visit https://urbanarium.org/missing-middle-competition

For more information on Vancouver’s housing crisis - http://www.metronews.ca/news/vancouver/2017/06/05/vancouver-housing-crisis-a-form-of-apartheid.html

About Urbanarium

Urbanarium is a not-for-profit volunteer organization run by a Vancouver-based Board of Directors with a passion for city building and extensive experience leading volunteer organizations. Urbanarium’s goal is to provide the Metro Vancouver community with a platform for making dialogue around urban issues accessible and a place where the community can get reliable information without political or ideological bias.