Urban housing is a large and complex challenge, and the pandemic has made the systemic issues of inadequate housing and homelessness more starkly visible. Lockdown has been challenging for all of us: being confined to our homes left many of us feeling isolated without our work and social community, or cramped and irritated by our roommates and families; even worse, many of us felt the precarity of our housing situations. How can we improve the design of the support structures (both physical and social) that hold up one of our most basic human rights?

In Housing is Health panel discussion, we hear the perspectives and efforts of community organizer Paterson Hodgson, design researcher Shabaan Khokhar, professor and human-centred designer Jonathan Enns, and Abi Bond, director of the City of Toronto Housing Secretariat. This discussion will step outside of disciplinary bounds to share knowledge and explore solutions toward housing policy and design that serves the wellbeing and health of all Torontonians.

Design for Wellbeing Fellow Maighdlyn Hadley moderates the discussion, and we will close out with a Q+A period.