Locating Optimal Affordable Housing Sites : A Determination of Potential Site Locations for New Affordable Housing Units using Multi-criteria Analysis: A Case Study of Kelowna, British Columbia

Abstract: Housing affordability is problematic in the Canadian context for two main reasons: income inequality and the lack of available low cost affordable rental units. This is specifically true in the case of Kelowna, a medium sized city located in the southern interior of British Columbia (western Canada). The purpose of this study is to determine which socioeconomic and physical criterion are related to affordable housing placement and to assess and execute a GIS strategy that best integrates the determined criteria in order to find the best optimal sites to locate potential affordable housing units. The focus is on including socioeconomic factors, median after-tax income and median rent costs, as opposed to physical factors alone. The methodology includes doing a literature review to gain a foundational understanding both of affordable housing issues and multi-criteria analysis (MCA) as an adequate GIS processing mechanism. Several criteria are then evaluated in a GIS framework using both vector and raster data to create both Boolean and weighted factor criteria maps which are modeled to project the optimal locations. The MCA results locate two general areas occupying two main census delineation zones within Kelowna deemed optimal for affordable housing placement based on the input factors. Though MCA has some drawbacks, such as subjectivity in criteria choice and weights applied, the benefits outweigh the costs and MCA proves to be a good GIS technique to adequately locate potential sites from affordable housing units. The scope of this study allows only for general area locations, but lays a foundation for which other studies can be built upon, either a more in-depth locational study for Kelowna to similar GIS application to other cities.