Archinect - News

Are segregated playgrounds the new 'poor doors'?

2019-07-23T04:00:00-04:00

Segregated play spaces are to be banned in all future London housing developments, the Greater London Authority (GLA) has revealed this week. The policy, part of the London Plan for developers and local authorities across the city, follows outrage across the political spectrum at the case of the Lilian Baylis estate in Kennington. [...] families living in the social housing side of the estate were not allowed to use the play area or any communal spaces on the development.

"It is disgraceful that children who live in the same development would ever be prevented from playing together," London Mayor Sadiq Khan told The Guardian.

The case of the segregated play areas at this London housing development (and several others) — only children from Lilian Baylis estate's 'affordable' units were denied access to seemingly communal amenities and spaces — brings back memories of 'poor doors.'

New case of proposed "Poor Door" in Honolulu

2017-12-04T14:01:00-05:00

A real estate developer in Hawaii is under scrutiny for its plans to build a residential high-rise that has two separate entrances: one for high-income residents and another for low-income earners. [...] will include 78 affordable rental units for people earning 80 percent or less of the area median income, as required by Honolulu’s affordable housing strategy. The other 351 units will be market-priced condominiums. If things go as ProsPac plans, the units will be separated with two entrances.

Various examples of so-called "poor doors" in New York City, London, and Vancouver made the headlines in previous years, sparking heated debate across a number of Archinect comment sections.

Poor Doors of Perception: discriminatory design, collapsing balconies, and virtual realities on Archinect Sessions #36

2015-07-02T20:11:00-04:00

This week, we dip into the swamp of whether so-called "poor doors" (separate entrances for affordable and market-rate housing tenants) are discriminatory, highlighting discussion points made in the wake of New York's decision to make them illegal. We also follow up on the investigation into a balcony collapse in Berkeley, California that led to six deaths, and ask Brian Newman, Archinect Sessions' Legal Correspondent, what legal recourse is possible for everyone involved.

Virtual built environment wizards Thomas Hirschmann and Anthony Murray, founders of documentation and preservation firm The Third Fate, also join us for an interview. Their work seeks to document, preserve and activate the built environment through virtual realities.

Listen to episode thirty-six of Archinect Sessions, "Poor Doors of Perception":

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New York's "poor doors" are no more

2015-06-29T20:01:00-04:00

The separate entrances for the rich and poor came about due to a loophole in the Inclusionary Housing program enacted in 2009 that allowed developers to get subsidies if they provided affordable housing either on or off-site.

Last year, a luxury NYC high-rise had its request for separate entrances – one for its affordable housing-unit tenants, another for its market-rate tenants – approved, fanning the fires of discriminatory design debates here on Archinect. Now, the loophole in a NY-rent stabilization law that made such "poor doors" possible has been closed, thanks to a new provision from NYC mayor Bill de Blasio.

Another instance of "poor door" discriminatory housing in Canada: Another case of "poor door" for proposed Vancouver high-rise

Another case of "poor door" for proposed Vancouver high-rise

2015-05-08T17:39:00-04:00

A new building in Vancouver's West End neighbourhood is getting some attention because of its segregated entrances for condo residents and those living in social housing units. The West End Neighbours community group says the market-priced condo units and social housing units for the 19-storey high-rise for 1171 Jervis Street will also be branded differently at the entrances and have separate amenities. The development permit was approved Monday by city staff.

'Poor doors': not the worst thing about social housing

2014-07-31T13:41:00-04:00

"Of course these so-called 'poor doors' are shocking, but they are a symptom, not the problem," says Michael Edwards, senior lecturer at the Bartlett school of planning at UCL. "We've simply stopped building proper social housing, and until that's addressed then fiddling around with front-door arrangements is like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic."

Previously: Tale of Two Cities: NYC approves ‘poor door’ for luxury high-rise

Tale of Two Cities: NYC approves ‘poor door’ for luxury high-rise

2014-07-22T14:08:00-04:00

New York City is moving forward with a proposal that calls for a new high-rise apartment complex to feature separate doors for wealthy tenants and those living in the building’s affordable housing unit. While wealthy residents will be able to enter the building from its designated front entrance, affordable housing tenants will be required to go in through a back alley. A mandatory affordable housing plan is not license to segregate lower-income tenants from those who are well-off.

Maybe the higher-ups will employ the low-income folk as maids and janitors? Built-in servants quarters, subsidized by the city.