Essays on purpose-built rental housing, gentrification, and transit-oriented development in suburban Metro Vancouver

In the aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis of 2008 and the spectacular collapse of the U.S. housing market, issues of debt and affordable housing in Canada have drawn increasing scrutiny. Vancouver's position in the Canadian urban system, and transnational circuits of migration and capital investment, highlights vivid tensions between affordability, capital accumulation, and policy challenges of social equity amidst widening inequality. Within this context, Chapter 1 of this thesis presents an overview of key themes of suburban rental housing, transit-oriented development (TOD), and the role of City leadership. In Chapter 2, I discuss concerns that much of Vancouver’s suburban stock of aging purpose-built rental housing could soon face redevelopment pressure. The key findings are that the current purpose-built rental stock is insufficient to meet demand, government policy may have contributed to a lack of supply, and expanding the supply of suburban rental housing will depend on a balance between preservation and redevelopment. In Chapter 3, I examine a highly localized example of marginalized renters in an aging, low- to moderate-density suburban neighborhood in Metro Vancouver facing displacement because of a local area plan to facilitate high-density redevelopment around a light rapid transit station. The central argument of this chapter is that TODs are buttressed by a logic of smart growth and environmental sustainability, which can override social equity concerns. In particular, I consider how TOD logics justified the demolition of refugee-serving housing in Vancouver’s suburban city of Coquitlam. In Chapter 4, I describe how the 2018 electoral defeat of Burnaby’s incumbent five-term mayor led to a significant policy shift in how the City approached renters in the gentrifying town centre of Metrotown. Following years of controversy and activism, the City of Burnaby approved the Metrotown Downtown Plan in 2017, which re-designated maximum density achievable through rezoning from 4-storeys to at least 12-storeys, in a neighbourhood dominated by rental buildings. A change in the mayor’s office led to a significant policy shift in Burnaby, with renters’ rights being recognized in new ways. Chapter 5 is a concluding discussion and summary of Chapters 2-4. Potential future directions for research are suggested.Arts, Faculty ofGeography, Department ofGraduat