Will Edmonton's zoning changes improve housing affordability? The experts are split

A major overhaul of Edmonton's zoning bylaw promises more compact development in existing and future neighbourhoods, but experts caution that increased density does not guarantee improved affordability.

If approved, the new bylaw would serve as a new rule book for what kind of new buildings can be constructed and where — and what kind of functions they can serve once they are standing.

The bylaw imagines a less sprawling city where more homes are more tightly packed into every neighbourhood.

The number of development zones would be reduced, allowing for buildings of up to three storeys in all neighbourhoods, and encouraging different types of development to be built more easily in all residential areas.

City council will discuss the merits of the new zoning bylaw during public hearings starting Monday, but the proposed overhaul has already rekindled a familiar debate: Can increasing density improve affordability and help ease Edmonton's housing crisis?

Experts are urging caution around possible unintended consequences, and are calling for regulations that would put more pressure on developers to build low-income housing.

City officials say the bylaw is just one tool it's using to tackle the affordability crisis — and while it will take time, the new rules have been designed to increase housing supply and protect the market from overheating as the population grows.

Inglewood homeowner Roy Coulthard said he welcomes renewal in his mature neighbourhood but is concerned that older, affordable homes are already being torn down and replaced with pricier properties.

"The new builds are coming in at very expensive prices," he said. "And it's actually chasing a lot of people out of the neighbourhood who have been living there, in some case, for decades."

Wendell Cox, a senior fellow at the Urban Reform Institute and co-author of the annual Demographia International Housing Affordability survey, said a new zoning bylaw won't solve Edmonton's affordability problems.

By changing its approach, the city could instead make the situation worse, Cox said.

"Higher density is generally associated with higher housing costs and worse affordability and that's a very big problem."

Boosting density has long been a mantra among urban planners but the approach doesn't guarantee more equitable access to a home, Cox said. He said there is room for increased density in Edmonton's market but that the city should proceed with caution. 

"Densification is very popular," he said. "It's the planning orthodoxy. At the same time, the academic evidence [to support it] is, at best, mixed."