Backyard Densification: Resectioning Urban Residential Lots

Abstract

City densification techniques have become stagnant. Suburban land use needed to be revisited and a resectioning of lots implemented. This thesis investigates the typical characteristics of the suburban city lands, neighbourhoods, blocks, individual lots, and architectural forms. By implementing the new densification model on a project neighbourhood in Victoria, BC, this thesis aims to show that resectioning the lot and urbanizing the program composition of the suburban neighbourhood is a long-sighted model for housing in the city. Access is focused on walking, biking, and transit suiting the demographic living there rather than vehicular transportation. Pulling from the success of laneway housing, backyard housing offers new opportunities such as ownership, shared land, and updated infrastructure. This solution combats the oversized max-zoning of homes and the large scale redevelopment of urban blocks. By dividing lots the backyards become a viable space for citizen redevelopment and a hub for social activity.