Planning at the intersection of housing affordability and climate resilience
Cities are the sites of many crucial conversations – and decisions – that shape our shared future. In Metro Vancouver, much of that conversation currently focuses on the acute need for affordable housing. Yet any discussion of housing must also consider climate resilience, particularly given the building construction sector’s significant contribution of greenhouse gas emissions and the growing urgency of climate impacts in urban environments.
Students in the Master of Engineering Leadership in Urban Systems are exploring this issue in their Urban Systems Analysis & Planning course through a semester-long semi-hypothetical case study project with local partner Entre Nous Femmes Housing Society (ENF). ENF provides affordable, safe and secure housing across Metro Vancouver. Its portfolio currently includes 11 properties totalling 409 affordable rental units, with a goal of reaching 1,000 homes by 2028.
Like many non-profits in this sector, it faces some tough decisions. As some of its existing properties age, is it better to retrofit and update them to modern standards of comfort, safety and energy efficiency? Or should the buildings be demolished – which would displace community members over a period of several years and release significant embodied carbon – and replaced with higher-density development that could provide additional homes for those most in need?
Course instructor Dr. Su-Jan Yeo worked with ENF to develop a semi-hypothetical case study for students based on a similar scenario the organization faced a few years ago. ENF provided students background information from the project without revealing the decision it ultimately made.
Students are now working in teams to assess the information and embark on a decision-making process to propose a pathway that aligns strategically and sustainably with the goals of equity and resilience. Dr. Yeo says it’s up to the students to decide how they want to approach the challenge, including what tools to use.
“This part of the assignment is something of a meta-level exercise, asking students not only to develop a decision framework for the project but also to step back and study the process in action,” she explains. “Students may apply analytical tools learned in other courses or innovate their own – but the key is understanding why a particular method is effective and how it might perform in a different decision-making context."
The process also exposes students to the realities of working with incomplete data while still coming to a sound and defensible decision. Many variables – from future construction costs to funding availability to policy changes – cannot be known with certainty, which makes it impossible to identify a “perfect solution.”
“There is no ‘right’ or ‘optimal’ answer,” says Dr. Yeo. “Part of this course involves accepting that we are trying to arrive at a better solution – and that how we define ideal outcomes is a moving goalpost that changes from generation to generation.”
Working with a community partner like ENF prompts deep discussions around values and how to do work aligned with the organization’s strategic priorities and values. For many students, this is their first time working with a non-profit organization in a classroom setting, offering a contrast to private-sector development and exposing them to the unique constraints and responsibilities faced by the non-profit sector.
At the end of the semester, students will present their decision framework and propose a pathway in response to the dilemma posed – and learn from ENF what decision the housing society made when confronted with a similar challenge a few years ago.
The decisions that shape our cities
The decision of whether to retrofit or redevelop is one commonly faced by housing societies like ENF, who are working to alleviate the housing affordability crisis in Metro Vancouver. And when you add in the desire to build sustainably and prioritize climate resilience, some of those conversations get more challenging.
“In an urban planning context, we cannot focus solely on climate action or solely on housing – we can never address just one side of the equation in isolation,” says Dr. Yeo. “The building construction sector is Canada’s third-largest contributor of greenhouse gas emissions and safe, affordable housing options are still out of reach of many. How do we make decisions that address this complexity?”
“The MEL is a leadership program and our graduates will need to be able to navigate and communicate complex trade-offs as they work with a range of actors to develop solutions, recognizing that there is no perfect outcome, only a defensible decision based on a clear understanding of why a particular course of action was chosen.”
Read a Q&A with Dr. Yeo where she talks about the broader context of city-building and how the Urban Systems program and the course she teaches within it empower students to learn how to be part of and lead multidisciplinary teams. And check out the project students worked on in 2025 to raise awareness of multimodal transportation options for newcomers to Vancouver.
