Course:GEOG350/2024/Data and the City: Vancouver Housing Crisis
Introduction
This chapter will focus on the Data and the City section of the course. This section primarily focuses on highlighting the importance and usage of data and statistics when taking decisions that can impact and affect the landscape and city itself. While the overall focus of this section is rather broad, and can address a variety of concerns and issues, ranging from affordability, taxation, demographics, poverty, quantity of green spaces and a multitude of other issues, this chapter will not focus on each possible area of study, instead the focus will primarily focus on housing affordability. The purpose of this chapter is hence to showcase the usage of Data in the interpretation of the city, using such data in the context of housing and visualizing just how broad the housing issue truly is for Vancouver. The example of housing is merely used to provide a concrete understanding of this focus area, it is by no means exclusive. The importance of data lies in its wide area of usage, being incorporated in nearly every aspect of city management at one level or another, and such does not prove false for geographers tackling cities. Furthermore through data, geographers gain access to tools to address and identify a multitude of variables that might change the way spaces are organized or perceived, as well as providing an providing an appropriate understanding of which spaces need to be altered, redesigned or addressed in some way, and which can instead function as a template for future problem solving or to showcase effective designing. Of course the mentioned advantages of data are non exhaustive, and more specific implementations of data may also arise. As an example for the city of Vancouver with the focus on data, data may be utilized to define which areas maintain less green spaces, consume more or less electricity, the heat dissipation of homes and a variety of other variables. If we are to instead focus on the housing crisis, data could instead be seen as a tool to identify which areas maintain a lower average amount of residents, which hold the most single-family homes, the income of people residing areas and land values. Each of these pieces of data could help identify areas suitable for redesign or housing expansion, as well as identifying, as explored later, how different areas may require different solutions to help in dealing with the housing and affordability housing.
This chapter will hence be divided into three main sections, an overview of housing crisis from both a global and local perspectives, as well as a brief introduction to how the crisis has affected Vancouver. This will then lead into a more in-depth analysis of Vancouver as a case study for the housing crisis, looking at the data available and exploring how the housing crisis has manifested itself in Vancouver, as well as providing an understanding of city design limitation that have negatively impacted the ability to deal with the crisis. Lastly, this chapter will provide some possible solutions to the problem grounded in the available data as well as providing an understanding of how such the crisis may be reflecting on city dwellers and residents from a social perspective, primarily addressing financial pressure and internal migration.
Overview: Housing Crisis
The focus for this section, as mentioned above, is the affordability and housing crisis that has now taken over not only Vancouver but many other cities, both inside and outside of Canada. When talking about a housing crisis, a couple conditions are insinuated by such a remark, that being, a shortage of houses and/or the prices of such houses being too high for those seeking homes to afford. Hence, either there is a lack of housing due to space usage, and/or the houses being built are not affordable for the people currently lacking a home, meaning that even if such homes exist, they remain vacant. The issue itself is much more complex, including location, space usage, size and other factors that all influence the housing market in their own unique way, yet the problem overall remains, that people can no longer be assured of having a home or being able to afford living in one.
While the problem is not unique to Vancouver, and it does hold larger implications globally, Vancouver appears to be living in a relatively harsh housing crisis at the moment, with the necessary monthly income required to cover ownership of homes in Vancouver having reached highs of 106% (Royal Bank of Canada), significantly higher than the average 63.5%. Beyond just the comparison with Canada, 106% signifies that a large portion of the population of Vancouver is unable to buy a home under current market conditions, instead being subjected to rentals or having to give up entirely on having a private home and property. The issue of how to resolve such is not to be attributed to this section instead, the use of data in understanding where the affordability problem is more acute is what this will be focused upon primarily. Finding where affordability is low, where new spaces can be constructed and where there is either a surplus or lack of demand for housing can all help shape better policies for fighting the crisis. General measures are a must, but so are more localized ones.
While the solutions are many, the data remains the same, what matters primarily is how the data is treated and addressed. To briefly provide an understanding using the above mentioned 106% required average income, the data itself seems to point to two possibilities for the roots of the problem, either houses are too expensive or the average income is too low, both can although be true at the same time. The data on income requirements for homes alone are not sufficient to identify which of the two is the problem, yet they do point to a clear follow-up lead for more data recording. In this case if income was too low, we would see a reflection of such in purchasing power, as such would showcase a more general issue with income struggle that goes beyond housing. The other case, the price of homes could appear to be too high for home buyers and renters to afford reliably, unless they stood safely above the average income bracket. While the data does not directly tell us what the problem is, if we look at the difference between Vancouver and the rest of Canada, a 42.5% (Royal Bank of Canada) difference in required income to afford a home does suggest that prices appear to be too high instead of the income being low. As such, when looking at this data, geographers are likely to focus primarily on finding ways to expand housing construction opportunities, and identifying which areas are more likely to be available for redesigning, which areas remain the most and least accessible, all for the purpose of identifying the most suitable areas to expand the housing supply and lower the ratio between income and housing costs.
When looking at the Housing crisis, while a global focus might also be relevant to understand the broader implications of housing markets, Vancouver itself appears to be an excellent case study for understanding and uncovering now only how housing crisis can happen, but also how data can aid us in identifying the more affected areas, while also showcasing how the crisis is not uniform, but rather, the crisis appears to be more visible in certain areas compared to others and to affect specific places more than other locations. This does not mean to signify that we should solely focus on certain areas while ignoring others and their respective communities, but rather, to deal with an arduous task such as resolving a housing and affordability crisis, certain priorities and considerations have to be made.
Vancouver: A Case Study
Current Situation
The current situation can be addressed both from a generalized perspective and from a more detailed look from local data of Vancouver over the differences in housing crisis. While data for a crisis index might be hard to realize, when looking at taxation levels, house values and density values, the data can become useful in visualizing the underlying challenges of the crisis, albeit not directly. Beyond what previously mentioned by a study of the Royal Bank of Canada, highlighting how markets now demand over 105% of income for affording a house, a similar report by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (2023) also showcases that projected figures see the housing market still lacking 610.000 units to see levels of affordability similar to 2012 (The Georgia Straight). Hence not only do we see income levels requiring more than 100% of the average to be able to afford a home, but projected figures also showcase a negative outlook on the crisis. If we are to instead look at local map data, a more detailed image of the problem can be created. When looking at building value alone, we can notice that while Metro Vancouver sees a relatively high value compared to most other areas, the value of outer residential areas appears to be relatively similar, with the more valuable directly outside the metro area (MountainMath). Despite such similar building values, the density map, still provided by MountainMath, showcases a much more important figure. While the metro area tends to hold more than 80 homes per acre, the southwest and south areas of Vancouver seem to hold less than 8 homes per acre on average, even in residential areas, with eastern Vancouver performing slightly better at around 10. The issue in question with housing hence can be tied quite strongly to the overall lack of housing rather than the quality of the houses. If building value appears to be the same despite the density, it is hence not that there is a lack of affordable housing, instead there is a lack of housing overall. It is not that people cannot afford the available housing but rather that there are not enough houses present to cover the demand, all despite the presence of extensive areas with low density.
To further address the current situation, looking at the zoning choices throughout Vancouver, the problem of housing takes a similar shape, yet an entire new dimension of planning issues begin to resurface. This is not necessarily a critique of earlier planners, rather, it is a highlight of how the current zoning system is enhancing the crisis and has contributed to the limited housing opportunities in Vancouver. While metro Vancouver and the adjacent locations maintain high levels of multi-family dwelling zoning areas (MountainMath, Vancouver Map Assessment), the other areas of Vancouver do not share the same enhanced availability for housing. Beyond Fairview, Mount Pleasant and Strathcona, all over neighborhoods outside metro Vancouver primarily house single family homes, with limited two family housing being available in north-west Kitsilano and Grand-view woodland. The zoning alone should be sufficient in highlighting once again just how limited the housing supply currently is, and how much potential expansion of housing is available just from neighborhood redesigning. As expressed prior, with nearly 610.000 houses missing to meet demand, the present situation remains a disheartening effect of previous zoning and construction choices. The extensive use of single and double family homes may have previously been ample to meet with the demand of population growth, yet land constraints have now caught up with how much can be achieved with novel home sizes and building choices. The issue hence remains complex, but with a positive outlook for the future, the crisis can be fixed if measures are taken, there is ample space to expand and build new housing. Hard choices will have to be made and housing habits will have to undergo changes, but the problem at root remains solvable, and the data above proves such, currently housing units might be a problem, but the prospect and potential remains, and there is ample of it.
Further Evidence of the Crisis
A crisis such as the one experienced by Vancouver does not show itself in a single plane, rather, the effects of the crisis may show themselves and impact different areas and people in different manners. Firstly, we need to assess whether a crisis does indeed exist and whether there are signs of the crisis. Beyond just reports of homes being hard to find, when looking at the price changes, a possible housing bubble and crisis becomes apparent, with Vancouver experiencing a 311% increase in prices from 2000 to 2018 (Rherrad et al 2019, 1597), showcasing clear signs of exuberance (ibid, 1600). The price increase alone is enough to appear worrying, with data clearly showing that the market is suffering, especially from a consumer perspective. A 311% increase is also beyond the natural increase in price that one would expect from inflation, even when accounting for the 41% expected rise in prices from inflation alone (The Bank of Canada), meaning natural price adjustments were not the cause of such a change. The 311% is hence undeniable not only data, but also proof that the market is acting outside the expected projections for a healthy housing market, even when considering the possibility of appreciations. Furthermore, while the government has employed some measures to cool the market, home sales had begun slowing ever since (Devlin 2017). Hence not only had prices risen significantly more than expected since the year 2000, but the sales of homes had also slowed, meaning not only could people hardly afford housing, the number of units sold also declined, intensifying the crisis.
The crisis not only restricts itself to prices, but also on other considerations, such as the migratory channels and realities that not only reflect on the crisis itself, but also showcase the extent of the crisis. Not only do immigrants mostly appear to settle in specific areas, but these areas also appear to be pockets of “housing affordability stress and poverty” (Teixeira 2014, 170), meaning the crisis now also appears to absorb a new reality and condition, not only are the average citizens suffering, but migratory patterns and movements also seem to aliment the crisis beyond what would have been the case without. Data also points at these areas being pockets of “social dislocation and exclusion” (ibid, 171), with the crisis now not only being tied to solely the idea of affordability and sheer number of housing units available, but rather also the creates a situation where residents and migrants now live in social conditions that deviate from before the crisis. The crisis has not only caused people to live in extensively arduous financial difficulties, but their conditions has been rendered worse by the enhancing the negative impacts of societal exclusion based on their housing areas, with reverberations across their role in society as a whole.
Possible Solutions
When looking at both the data, one clear solution to this problem should immediately come to one’s mind, that being, increasing the housing density to more easily accommodate for more homes without also needing to repurpose other areas. While this can in fact be a reliable solution, and is likely to ultimately be something that will have to happen, if rates of ownership are high or people be unwillingly to sell their land, such a project is unlikely to be completed in a quick manner. Despite such, with the current zoning situation, as described in the section prior, land availability for expansion at the current pace is unlikely to be able to address the demand, meaning no matter what measures are taken, a repurposing of residential areas will need to occur at some point to address the already high demand for new homes. Other solutions already underway include further temporary housing to address homelessness, ensure new housing can be used to meet the future demand, stabilizing land value to streamline the ability to purchase land for home construction (City of Vancouver). These are merely some of the possible solutions, more are likely to exist and to be currently either being discussed or planned. Furthermore most of these are likely to not resolve the housing, but rather delay the inevitable need to increase the housing density and change the zoning type of the outer Vancouver neighborhoods. Measures such as value stabilization are also unlikely to deal with the issue by themselves, these measures can make it easier to buy by making it so the prices do not skyrocket due to changes in the land and building value, yet cannot deal with raw lack of supply of housing. The last mentioned solution, that being the measure by the City of Vancouver to ensuring new housing projects are diverted to actually meeting the demand, such an assurance coupled with an increase in available housing and higher density is likely to increasing available housing and drive down prices. Addressing the housing crisis is not a straightforward path, nor a simple one. Yet, with the constant recording of data, deeper understandings of can be done and where the issue lie can better be identified. Where certain projects can take place, where it is easier and more likely to see a quick rise in density. While it might initially be easy to think that any extra housing could solve the problem, no matter where they are located, such might not necessarily be the case. Data has to be utilized to understand which locations are more likely to be in demand, based on infrastructures, institutions, job opportunities and other variables near residential areas. These factors must be accounted for when dealing with a concern such as the housing crisis, making it even more apparent why data has to be continuously gathered. All these solutions require and are based primarily on data being recorded, analyzed and compile, no matter what the solution to this crisis will be, data will always be responsible for finding such.
Lesson learned
The lessons from data application can hence be mostly summarized to a couple of points, primarily in the idea that data application finds its strength in the variety of the data, the relative objectivity of the data itself, in the sense that numbers do not hold an agenda by themselves, rather the interpretation is what provides the difference in data analysis. By the same point though, because of the relative impartiality of raw data itself, it maintains a wide use range that goes beyond solely the initial reason it might have been recorded for. Take for example the study above in regards to housing density per acre, while the data can be used in regards to the Vancouver housing crisis to identify areas for housing expansion, it may also be used more expansively by the city to identify areas for expanded public transport infrastructure demand or by advertisers to identify what areas might be more suitable to place housing appliance advertisements. These are merely examples but the concept remains the same. Similarly the data above was not collected for the purpose of addressing the housing crisis, but rather made up a collection of a variety of data points that also included building and land value among other variables, despite such, the data could and has been used for the purpose of both showcasing the extent of the crisis, and also as a starting point for dealing with the crisis. The crisis hence provides an effective case study for understanding how data can be used to find both the effects of a specific case and be also extrapolated for possible solutions based on the effects. The flexibility is perhaps the most important and central lesson when it comes to data.
The applications are perhaps an extension from the lessons, focusing on the usage and employment of data. In geography especially, beyond the use of data to quantify changes in spaces, data may also be utilized to quantify attitudes and work in tandem with geographers to not also focus on the more physical aspects of space creation and formation, but can also be utilized to understand how cities evolve, how attitudes in people develop in regards to spaces and their connection. All of these have to be recorded into the form of data to be effectively utilized and interpreted, transforming feelings and emotions into information that can be used for a designated purpose, a purpose and agenda decided by those who interpret the data, be it for space repurposing, demolition, creation and other agendas. It is also important to briefly mention that the application of data may also be used maliciously if wanted. Data may be used to justify projects that directly harm a specific section of the population while claiming to aid another, or opposingly, data may be used to undermine the extent of a specific problem. An example of the latter could be the usage of overall air quality to justify the creation of an incinerator nearby a minority neighborhood, claiming the impact will be minimal. The choice of data and how data is used can become and remains a powerful tool for geographers and other occupations to justify, interpret, recognize and solve a variety of problems, with the impact of data being neither positive nor negative by default, but rather based on the individuals in charge of using and applying data.
References
- Bank of Canada, “Statistics: Tools and Resources.” Bank of Canada, www.bankofcanada.ca/rates/related/inflation-calculator/.
- Bergmann von Jens. “Mountainmath Software and Analytics.” MountainMath, www.mountainmath.ca/.
- City of Vancouver. “Housing Vancouver Strategy: Three-Year Action Plan.” City of Vancouver, vancouver.ca/people-programs/housing-vancouver-action-plan.aspx.
- Hogue, Robert. “Toughest Time Ever to Afford a Home as Soaring Interest Costs Keep Raising the Bar.” RBC Thought Leadership, 2 Apr. 2024. https://thoughtleadership.rbc.com/toughest-time-ever-to-afford-a-home-as-soaring-interest-costs-keep-raising-the-bar/
- Jessica, Devlin. “Vancouver’s Housing Crisis.” ProQuest, Land Journal, Sept. 2017, www.proquest.com/docview/1933928221?accountid=14656&pq-origsite=summon&sourcetype=Scholarly%20Journals.
- Judd, Amy, and Angela Jung. “Vancouver Is in a ‘full-Blown Crisis’ for Housing Affordability: Report.” Global News, Global News, 4 Apr. 2024, globalnews.ca/news/10401449/vancouver-full-blown-crisis-housing-affordability-report/.
- Rherrad, Imad, et al. “Is the Canadian Housing Market ‘Really’ Exuberant? Evidence from Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal.” Taylor & Francis Online, Applied Economics Letters, 15 Mar. 2019, www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13504851.2019.1588941.
- Stanborough, Maria. “Vancouver’s Housing Crisis Is Going Nowhere Fast.” The Georgia Straight, 9 Jan. 2024, www.straight.com/city-culture/vancouvers-housing-crisis-is-going-nowhere-fast.
- Texeira, Carlos. “Living on the ‘Edge of the Suburbs’ of Vancouver: A Case Study of the Housing Experiences and Coping Strategies of Recent Immigrants in Surrey and Richmond.” Wiley Online Library, Canadian Geographies , 3 Dec. 2013, doi.org/10.1111/j.1541-0064.2013.12055.x.
- “Updating How Much Housing We Need by 2030.” CANADA MORTGAGE AND HOUSING CORPORATION, 23 June 2023, assets.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/sites/cmhc/professional/housing-markets-data-and-research/housing-research/research-reports/2023/housing-shortages-canada-updating-how-much-we-need-by-2030-en.pdf.
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