{"id":120725,"date":"2026-07-08T01:31:34","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T01:31:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/120725\/"},"modified":"2026-07-08T01:31:34","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T01:31:34","slug":"u-of-c-calgary-developer-create-program-focused-on-building-missing-middle-housing-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/120725\/","title":{"rendered":"U of C, Calgary developer create program focused on building \u2018missing middle\u2019 housing"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new online program at the University of Calgary teaches Canadian developers how to build \u201cmissing middle\u201d housing, while trying to bring more empathy to the density debate.<\/p>\n

Those who created the program say it was created to fill a gap in the real estate space, where there\u2019s a plethora of resources to build large apartments and single-detached homes, but not so much for the developments in between \u2014 like rowhouses and duplexes.<\/p>\n

Created in partnership between Calgary development company mddl and the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape (SAPL), mddl U<\/a> teaches developers \u2014 and other interested students \u2014 how to navigate the complex parts of this work, such as finances and approvals.<\/p>\n

For Alkarim Devani, co-founder of mddl, it\u2019s also a chance to find the right framework for missing middle that balances all perspectives.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis 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,\u201d said Devani, who came up with the idea as part of his doctoral research.<\/p>\n

\"Alkarim<\/p>\n

Alkarim Devani, co-founder of mddl, said all kinds of new housing are required to reach affordability in Calgary. (Bryan Labby\/CBC)<\/p>\n

\u201cHopefully 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

mddl U is considered to be the first certified education program of its kind in the continent, according to mddl and SAPL.<\/p>\n

Blanket rezoning repeal<\/p>\n

The program\u2019s first cohort graduated a few weeks ago, and its second cohort is set to begin the course next week.<\/p>\n

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<\/a>, which had allowed for rowhouses and townhouses to be built on most residential lots across the city.<\/p>\n

Proponents of the policy argued it\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Watching that play out required honest conversations with his students about the durability of policies, said Devani.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there\u2019s risk to policy advancing too fast and I think that\u2019s what we may have [seen] in Calgary,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat developers and what residents and what people need to understand is, how do we find something that community might not love but doesn\u2019t hate? I think that\u2019s the fine balance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reinforcing the need<\/p>\n

For John Brown, dean of SAPL at the University of Calgary, the repeal of blanket rezoning reinforces the need for the new program.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard to have a debate or a thoughtful discussion as a community without having a common understanding of what\u2019s the complexity of everything that is going on,\u201d said Brown, who was Devani\u2019s supervisor for his thesis.<\/p>\n

\"John<\/p>\n

John Brown is the dean of the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape at the University of Calgary. (Helen Pike\/CBC)<\/p>\n

Calgary city council still hasn\u2019t decided how it will replace blanket rezoning<\/a>, and Brown said he\u2019s glad for the pause.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an opportunity to kind of retrench, to reconsider and something new will come out of all of this.\u201d<\/p>\n

From aspiring developers to homeowners to non-profit organizations, mddl U is open to anyone across Canada.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new online program at the University of Calgary teaches Canadian developers how to build \u201cmissing middle\u201d housing,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":120726,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[29621,51,302,40907,40905,40906,260],"class_list":["post-120725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-calgary","tag-alkarim-devani","tag-calgary","tag-calgary-city-council","tag-missing-middle","tag-online-program","tag-sapl","tag-university-of-calgary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120725","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120725"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120725\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/120726"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}