Where you are:

Housing LIN > Resources > Resource Library > Building social connections: Multi-unit housing design toolkit

Building social connections: Multi-unit housing design toolkit

Building social connections COVER

This Canadian toolkit, published by Happy Cities and Hey Neighbour Collective, presents design opportunities to nurture social wellbeing in housing for people of all ages, backgrounds, abilities, household sizes, and incomes.

The design areas are broken down into four toolboxes: 

  1. Social building edges
  2. Social circulation
  3. Social amenities
  4. Social homes 

These are designed to be applicable across multi-unit housing (a Canadian term) which can include townhouses, multiplexes, low-rise apartments, and high-rise towers, and across tenures - both market and non-market. They offer some interesting international comparisons on designing adaptable homes, from supporting accessibility and ageing in place to growing community wellbeing and social connections to achieving sustainable environmental impact and ensuring inclusivity for everyone.