Building a Neighbourhood: Interpreting Montreal’s Plateau to Redefine Contemporary Mass Housing Typologies

Abstract

After the industrial revolution, the increase in population of urban centres created a severe housing shortage. In North America there were two contrasting responses to house the masses, the urban tower and the garden city suburb. These solutions have since been criticised harshly as blunders of modernism. Today, we are undergoing unprecedented urbanisation and a changing paradigm. We are again in a position where the idea of mass housing needs to be rethought. Low-rise mixed-use neighbourhoods, such as Montreal’s Plateau, can provide sustainable vibrant urban environments. However, given the current paradigm, there are instances where buildings of higher density are necessary. How can successful urban neighbourhoods be re-interpreted to develop a design methodology for buildings of higher density?