A new online program at the University of Calgary teaches Canadian developers how to build “missing middle” housing, while trying to bring more empathy to the density debate.
Those who created the program say it was created to fill a gap in the real estate space, where there’s a plethora of resources to build large apartments and single-detached homes, but not so much for the developments in between — like rowhouses and duplexes.
Created in partnership between Calgary development company mddl and the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape (SAPL), mddl U teaches developers — and other interested students — how to navigate the complex parts of this work, such as finances and approvals.
For Alkarim Devani, co-founder of mddl, it’s also a chance to find the right framework for missing middle that balances all perspectives.
“This housing form is being built within existing communities, with existing neighbourhoods, and we need to acknowledge that sensitivity and find the best way to deliver that,” said Devani, who came up with the idea as part of his doctoral research.
Alkarim Devani, co-founder of mddl, said all kinds of new housing are required to reach affordability in Calgary. (Bryan Labby/CBC)
“Hopefully this education will play a role, so when people come through the program and they show up with their first development projects, neighbours are going to feel that hopefully empathy, that attention, that compassion.”
mddl U is considered to be the first certified education program of its kind in the continent, according to mddl and SAPL.
Blanket rezoning repeal
The program’s first cohort graduated a few weeks ago, and its second cohort is set to begin the course next week.
As the course got underway, students got a real-world lesson in municipal policy. In the middle of their six-week program, Calgary city council repealed blanket rezoning, which had allowed for rowhouses and townhouses to be built on most residential lots across the city.
Proponents of the policy argued it’s a necessary change to bring more housing opportunity to the city. Opponents worried these developments would alter the character of their neighbourhoods, strain infrastructure and parking, reduce greenery and damage property values.
Watching that play out required honest conversations with his students about the durability of policies, said Devani.
“I think there’s risk to policy advancing too fast and I think that’s what we may have [seen] in Calgary,” he said.
“What developers and what residents and what people need to understand is, how do we find something that community might not love but doesn’t hate? I think that’s the fine balance.”
Reinforcing the need
For John Brown, dean of SAPL at the University of Calgary, the repeal of blanket rezoning reinforces the need for the new program.
“It’s hard to have a debate or a thoughtful discussion as a community without having a common understanding of what’s the complexity of everything that is going on,” said Brown, who was Devani’s supervisor for his thesis.
John Brown is the dean of the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape at the University of Calgary. (Helen Pike/CBC)
Calgary city council still hasn’t decided how it will replace blanket rezoning, and Brown said he’s glad for the pause.
“This is an opportunity to kind of retrench, to reconsider and something new will come out of all of this.”
From aspiring developers to homeowners to non-profit organizations, mddl U is open to anyone across Canada.