Toronto is regularly hailed as one of the world’s most livable cities. Those in search of affordable housing, however, might be tempted to differ.
A recent report puts the situation in stark terms: “…shelters are overflowing, evictions are rising, and wait lists for affordable housing are growing at unsustainable rates, while the population is growing far faster than supply.” Another study notes that renters need to earn more than $10 over minimum wage in order not to spend more than 30 per cent of their income on rent.
Solutions are needed now — and fortunately, one is already here.
Community land trusts (CLTs) are non-profit corporations that act as stewards for parcels of land containing housing units or other assets, such as community gardens, civic buildings and artists’ studios. They can be funded by government or by concerned social investors. Under the trust’s management, housing on the land is legally bound to remain affordable — despite market changes — for an extremely long period, which typically lasts a staggering 100 years.
A CLT isn’t just about buildings: it also involves community, co-operation and democratic consensus. Yet there isn’t much evidence available on the social and political benefits experienced by people living in CLTs. Do they truly make for a happier, healthier society?
Madalyn Hay believes they do, and the research she’s doing now may prove that definitively. Hay is currently pursuing a PhD through the Faculty of Arts & Science’s Department of Political Science. With assistance from the Connaught PhDs for Public Impact Fellowship Program, she’s seeking to illustrate how CLTs affect civic participation and citizen interaction with the communities that surround them.
“A sense of care and obligation is built into the trust structure of CLTs, since the group is responsible for decisions about how the land is used,” says Hay. “People appear to take their commitment to that very seriously, and they want to make sure that whatever is done with the land is done for the benefit of the community.”
The term “community land trust” was first applied over fifty years ago in the rural American South, to help Black farmers gain access to land and remain secure in the housing they planned to build on it. Since that time the CLT movement has taken off around the world, though advocates continue to face difficulty in convincing governments to support their need to wrest land from well-resourced private developers.
Because new housing is expensive to build, advocates tend to focus on acquiring land with existing properties, which they then renovate and maintain. Toronto currently boasts two thriving CLTs, located in the Parkdale and Kensington Market neighbourhoods; several others are now in development. Local CLTs will be the focus of Hay’s research, although all CLTs interest her. “They’re all very different, since the legal landscape and tax codes vary from country to country,” she says.
As a social scientist, Hay concentrates on political theory. “I’m interested in property relationships,” she says. “The social democratic part is one piece, but the other is an investigation into what it means to own urban land. We know that homeowners have a lot of power in the city. So how might that change when a given parcel of land is owned by a group, then used for the benefit of that group?”
When you live in an isolated condo unit, that might not seem as important since you’re cut off from your neighbours. But CLTs place people in the centre of their communities. Does that get more people interested in local government, and get them caring about land use and bylaws? I think it might.
A key focus of her research is whether CLTs encourage citizens to care more about their cities and promote greater political involvement.
“When you live in an isolated condo unit, that might not seem as important since you’re cut off from your neighbours. But CLTs place people in the centre of their communities. Does that get more people interested in local government, and get them caring about land use and bylaws? I think it might. I think it has the potential to get people involved in politics in a way that they weren’t before — which could be really beneficial to the city.”
Over the course of her research, Hay plans on making connections with CLT advocates and learning more about the day-to-day reality of their operations. She would also like to publish op-ed pieces in media outlets and spread the word about the CLT concept as a viable alternative to government-resourced social housing, which is regularly threatened by market forces and contributes to a sense of precarity among renters.
She also points out that while CLTs can be a model for charitable housing, they extend far beyond that. “They can provide housing for the poor, but also for people with average incomes because a large number of people in that category are now struggling to pay rent.”
One the most interesting parts of Hay’s research will be her analysis of how CLT tenants are viewed not only within their own circle, but by the world at large. They may prove to be a powerful vehicle for increased awareness of tenants’ rights.
“When we think of affordable housing,” she says, “we tend to think of a bifurcated model: the government must provide it, or the market must provide it. It’s interesting to see what happens when a community steps up to try and provide housing for its own members. How does that shape relationships among community members, private developers and government? Will citizens start to be taken more seriously?”
An affirmative answer to that question could certainly secure Toronto’s place as one of the world’s most livable cities: even, perhaps, for 100 years.