Council to Consider Partnership with UWindsor’s Centre for Cities

At the meeting on August 13, 2024, Lakeshore Council directed administration to bring back a report on the development of a formal partnership with the University of Windsor’s Centre for Cities.

The goal of such a partnership would be the creation and implementation of a Housing Production Systems Approach, a comprehensive and community-centric approach that would see residents engaged in a bottom-up process to determine how Lakeshore’s housing sector develops. Feedback from residents would be incorporated into Lakeshore’s Official Plan and Zoning By-law.

“This initiative will make it easier for builders to build by cutting red tape while ensuring our communities develop in ways that reflect what our residents want,” said Mayor Tracey Bailey. “We are lucky to have an incredible local asset in the Centre of Cities and I look forward to seeing this partnership develop so Lakeshore can lead the way in improved planning processes throughout the region, as well as how we can work with the University to improve how we serve our residents.”

“We are thrilled to be working with Lakeshore through a potential MOU. We all know how important of an issue housing is. This area is seeing record growth and Lakeshore is truly in a unique position to add more housing at a faster pace. But what’s great about this approach is that it’s not just about getting housing built faster, it’s about building up their communities in a way that’s better for the environment, economically sustainable, affordable, while not touching farmland,” said Anneke Smit, Centre for Cities Director.

The memorandum of understanding, which will be presented to Council for approval at a future meeting, would be the first of its kind in the region.

About the UWindsor Centre for Cities and its Housing Systems and Innovation Lab

The Centre for Cities (C4C) at Windsor Law supports collaborative research, teaching and public engagement on the most pressing legal and policy issues for municipalities and local institutions. Their focus is on the tools for building and maintaining sustainable and inclusive communities.

In December of 2023, the Centre for Cities announced the launch of its Housing Systems and Innovation Lab with initial financial support provided by Libro Credit Union. The Lab is organized around a singular systems approach to efficient and appropriate housing production. By empowering municipalities to act as developers, the model aims to return planning power to municipalities’ hands, facilitating the construction of more suitable housing in form and scale, at a pace aligned with the pressing housing crisis. Tools such as target market analysis (TMA), efficient and early public consultation, and financial incentives for developers to build within the established footprint of the city all form part of the Lab’s systems approach.