Tiny Houses

The phenomenon of “tiny houses,” loosely defined as dwellings ranging between 65 and 120 square feet, has rapidly accumulated interest among economically and environmentally conscious individuals. The movement’s recent popularity highlights the commodification of sustainability in a market that continues to shelter economic and class privilege, despite that the movement itself emerges from a desire to consume less and contribute to community more.
Reading recent rhetoric surrounding the movement – with particular attention to the movement’s invocations of Henry David Thoreau – this essay examines the ways in which tiny house living contradicts its own rhetorical claims. However, in that contradiction, the movement has the potential to build a responsive environmental ethic as it focalizes dissonance between green-washing rhetoric and the complex realities of tiny house living. In fact, the experience of living in a tiny house may be even more Thoreauvian than the movement acknowledges with regard to issues of mobility and waste. Drawing from my position as builder, owner and inhabitant of a tiny house, as well as foundational sociological and environmental scholarship, this paper examines the tiny house movement’s privileged foundations but also investigates its potency for environmental and social justice issues, urban sustainability strategies, and land ethics.
https://books.google.com/books?id=m-G8BQAAQBAJ&pg=PA164&dq=From+Sustainable+to+Resilient+Cities:+Global+Concerns/Urban+Efforts_.+Research+in+Urban+Studies.+Bingley:+Emerald+P,&hl=en&sa=X&ei=3VrlVMLdF4HzoASl8IGICA&ved=0CCgQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false

Cities around the world are dealing with a profound housing crisis, where access to affordable, safe and secure housing is becoming harder to attain. In Melbourne, Victoria, this housing crisis is compounded by a severe shortage of government-supported housing, a growing waitlist for social housing and an increase in rates of homelessness. In light of this, one particular niche has emerged as a potential solution to tackling this crisis: tiny houses. This thesis examines the existing discourse surrounding tiny houses within the social housing space. It interrogates the current considerations and evident tensions of tiny houses in Melbourne as social housing from the policy, statutory planning and social domains. Deploying an exploratory multi-method approach, this thesis first analyses policy documentation, academic literature and media articles to understand the surface level tensions; and then develops a case study approach supported by participant interviews, exploring the tensions encountered in the recent Ballarat Road Harris Transportable Housing Project in Melbourne. The research finds a significant number of tensions including limitations in social housing stock and management, finance, tiny house definitions and standards in permit applications. This thesis suggests that tiny houses will likely continue to be considered as a form of social housing, advanced through neoliberal notions of choice, however, the scale of tiny house solutions to the housing crisis will be contingent on how the
tensions identified develop over time.

Keywords: tensions, tiny houses, social housing, choice, planning, policy.

This chapter offers a critical examination of ‘tiny houses’ and their relationship to the global degrowth movement. As a tiny house builder, inhabitant and landlord, I investigate the recent popularity of the tiny house movement for the ways it continues to shelter economic and class privilege, and is thus limited as a anti-capitalist and anti-colonialist strategy for achieving degrowth. Ultimately, I argue that where the tiny house movement fully articulates with the principles of degrowth, it exposes neocolonial paradoxes imbedded in the architectural and social aesthetics of sustainability. Together, these movements converge to offer transformative, and systems-oriented, environmental and social justice models that rupture the settler colonial and neoliberal logics of North America and Europe. Full chapter here: https://books.google.com/books?id=XLZoDwAAQBAJ&source=gbs_navlinks_s

While the Dutch acknowledged the vital need for sustainable housing, the reality is that the Netherlands has been facing an affordable housing crisis in which 300,000 houses are coming short. The ‘affordable’ and ‘sustainable’ Tiny House has started to gain popularity in the Netherlands and may be of value here, but no relation had been made between the three areas of ‘sustainable housing’, ‘housing crises’ and ‘Tiny Houses’ and the Tiny House community seemed to struggle in adopting Tiny Houses. This thesis research explored why and how Tiny Houses could be a way to relieve the housing crisis in an environmentally, socially and economically sustainable manner within the current policy framework. Qualitative phenomenological research was conducted through a desk study and semi-structured interviews. Besides making a contribution to the interdisciplinary body of literature on this topic, the MMAMS framework was proposed to identify bottlenecks for the diffusion of an innovation within a market system. The Tiny House was found to be a sustainable type of housing that would address the need for affordable housing of low- and middle-income classes, but in order for it to be adopted on a wider scale the vague definition of the Tiny House, restrictive national laws, ignorant municipal members, negative associations, NIMBY-ism, and a lack of investment options should be addressed. In the conclusions, suggestions to overcome these barriers are made, including the use of CityLabs and the establishment of a national interdisciplinary knowledge centre.

A process paper describing internship with Hyattsville CDC, where I assembled recommendations to advocate for tiny housing county-wide by determining what factors would influence access to this model of quality, manageable, more affordable housing.

Baltimore’s contemporary housing culture is the result of decades of discriminatory housing practices. Decades later from those insidious roots, residents are rightfully skeptical of innovative and alternative concepts when traditional solutions have repeatedly failed at paradigm shift. Proposals must then hold specific regard to the very-human, emotional effects that racism plays in setting structural expectations; both literally and institutionally. To the former expectation, an account of the traditional and innovative building types with an account of past successes and failures by local government can regain public confidence. Yet only if an alternative proposal offers a pragmatic, financially achievable and proven scope. But to the latter institutional expectation, the public feels amiss but does not know why. Like a patient who cries to be healed but watches as their doctor cannot get the serum just right, Baltimore residents are used to illness spreading; more rowhomes being abandoned than being rebuilt. Yet residents expect the standard formula to somehow net a body-wide cure when the pain’s cause is layered, requires multiple visits, and must be accompanied by the faith of optimism to prevent nihilism. In Baltimore City, market values are painfully askew yet residents expect business as usual to net a magic solution; whilst furthermore, actively disbelieving that any other route could reasonably address the problem. Among the many building types available to supplement an affordable housing inventory, “tiny houses” – often standalone¬ foundation-based dwellings of an especially small footprint, often less than 400 square feet– may be an increasingly attractive option.
With an emphasis on Baltimore’s Black (African-American) population, what follows summarizes historical concerns, identifies groups for which “tiny houses” are an appropriate housing solution, and documents neighborhood indicators for or against their application. Based upon a survey of recent literature and a compilation of local questionnaires, this research will review cultural attitudes towards “tiny houses.” Recommendations about how they may be reintroduced successfully into Baltimore’s housing market will also be accompanied by proposed changes to legislation recently under consideration by the City Council. Whereas foundation-based homes, alley rowhomes, carriage houses, and marinas, are already permitted, their homeowners’ values are not well communicated. These recommendations will provide verbal outreach messaging as well as land use and landscape strategies that planners and developers can use to address contemporary residents’ positive and negative preconceptions. Lastly, this research is a preliminary effort to provide such a guide, as well as to document the evolving cultural and historical framework within which “tiny houses” are contributing to a more robust and equitable housing market in Baltimore, Maryland.

Les Tiny Houses font de plus en plus parler d’elles. Les habitants de Tiny Houses s’inscrivent dans
une démarche de simplicité volontaire pour changer de mode de vie. Alors que cet acte volontaire
est intéressant d’un point de vue social et environnemental, peu de travaux portent sur cette
thématique. Ce mémoire porte donc sur la manière de changer son mode de vie grâce à la Tiny
House et les risques associés à ces modifications. Cette recherche a été réalisée grâce à des
méthodes qualitatives par le biais d’onze entretiens semi-directifs avec des auto-constructeurs
wallons de Tiny Houses. La dynamique de changement qui se réalise dans les pratiques
quotidiennes est explorée grâce au cadre d’analyse d’Elizabeth Shove, qui combine des théories de
la pratique, des études sociales des sciences et des techniques et des théories de l’innovation. Nous
découvrons que l’initiative de vivre en Tiny House exige des remises en question préalables et
globales qui se perpétuent après l’emménagement. Les questionnements ont conduit à utiliser la
Tiny House comme instrument pour changer son mode de vie, ce qui comporte des risques qui sont
réduits grâce aux caractéristiques propres de cette habitation. Elles sont utilisées intentionnellement
et stratégiquement par les Tinyistes pour vivre de manière différente à ce qui est la norme dans nos
sociétés tout en gardant la sécurité de pouvoir rester flexible et libre de se mouvoir dans différents
mondes sociaux. Les changements de mode de vie sont bien réels et rendus possibles grâce à
l’action de la Tiny House elle-même. Cette petite maison auto-construite est conçue par son habitant
de manière réfléchie pour mettre en pratique ses valeurs. En retour, celle-ci influence l’individu, ses
relations sociales, ses pratiques quotidiennes et son organisation spatio-temporelle dans le sens
souhaité et de manière implicite, sans se sentir contraint ou privé de quoi que ce soit. Cela ouvre des
questions sur les manières d’encourager le changement par une autre voie que la sensibilisation ou
les technologies.

Henry David Thoreau’s legacy has been cited as inspiring social experiments in “self-reliance,” simplicity movements, and American environmentalism–all of which converge in the contemporary tiny house phenomenon. The tiny house movement is a trend that advocates living simply in small spaces and enthusiasts often refer to Thoreau as the movement’s patron saint. Written from the position of a tiny house builder and dweller, this chapter discusses the tiny house movement’s commitments, history, and practices and the relevant differences and similarities the movement holds to Thoreau’s life and writings.
Despite a mutual inheritance of romantic rhetoric and entanglement in systems they ostensibly reject, Thoreau and the tiny house movement share fundamental ideals that prize simplicity, the value of community, a desire to reject private property laws, and a will to transform cultures of consumption. The benediction of Thoreau may emphasize the privilege in American environmental movements like the tiny house craze, but his writings also inform radical possibilities for environmental action.

Les Tiny Houses font de plus en plus parler d’elles. Les habitants de Tiny Houses s’inscrivent dans une démarche de simplicité volontaire pour changer de mode de vie. Alors que cet acte volontaire est intéressant d’un point de vue social et environnemental, peu de travaux portent sur cette thématique. Ce mémoire porte donc sur la manière de changer son mode de vie grâce à la Tiny House et les risques associés à ces modifications. Cette recherche a été réalisée grâce à des méthodes qualitatives par le biais d’onze entretiens semi-directifs avec des auto-constructeurs wallons de Tiny Houses. La dynamique de changement qui se réalise dans les pratiques quotidiennes est explorée grâce au cadre d’analyse d’Elizabeth Shove, qui combine des théories de la pratique, des études sociales des sciences et des techniques et des théories de l’innovation. Nous découvrons que l’initiative de vivre en Tiny House exige des remises en question préalables et globales qui se perpétuent après l’emménagement. Les questionnements ont conduit à utiliser la Tiny House comme instrument pour changer son mode de vie, ce qui comporte des risques qui sont réduits grâce aux caractéristiques propres de cette habitation. Elles sont utilisées intentionnellement et stratégiquement par les Tinyistes pour vivre de manière différente à ce qui est la norme dans nos sociétés tout en gardant la sécurité de pouvoir rester flexible et libre de se mouvoir dans différents mondes sociaux. Les changements de mode de vie sont bien réels et rendus possibles grâce à l’action de la Tiny House elle-même. Cette petite maison auto-construite est conçue par son habitant de manière réfléchie pour mettre en pratique ses valeurs. En retour, celle-ci influence l’individu, ses relations sociales, ses pratiques quotidiennes et son organisation spatio-temporelle dans le sens souhaité et de manière implicite, sans se sentir contraint ou privé de quoi que ce soit. Cela ouvre des questions sur les manières d’encourager le changement par une autre voie que la sensibilisation ou les technologies.

Salinas desativadas, por possuírem vento e sol em grande intensidade, são propicias para a montagem de um demonstrador de CIDADE INTELIGENTE, autossuficientes em energia, alimentação e mobilidade. A disponibilidade de algas. 20X mais ativas q as plantas terrestres, as torna um sumidouro de carbono eficiente, transformando algas em fonte de  biogás,que purificado em GNVBio confere mobilidade impacto zero.A  ERap, construção rápida  desmontável e remontável á razão de um andar por dia, também impacto zero, completa as tecnologias dessa CIAS- Cidade Inteligente, Amigável e Sustentável

L’urbanisation dispersée représente un véritable casse-tête pour la transition écologique urbaine en Amérique du Nord. Depuis des décennies, les plans et discours d’urbanisme font la guerre à l’étalement urbain, tandis que les représentations de la maison unifamiliale, véritable icône de la banlieue nord-américaine, s’adaptent à l’émergence des discours sur la soutenabilité urbaine. Au Québec (Canada), la mini-maison participe de ces dynamiques, mais de manière ambiguë. La mini-maison se présente à la fois comme une utopie d’habitation écologique et abordable, comme une niche du marché immobilier à combler et comme l’élément potentiel d’une stratégie plus flexible de densification douce des territoires suburbains. Cette étude de cas de type recherche-action propose d’étudier cette équivocité en analysant le processus de coconstruction de l’objet « mini-maison » au Québec à partir d’une analyse de presse, d’une analyse documentaire et d’observations participantes. Cet article conclut, d’une part, que ce processus a permis de créer des liens entre une grande diversité d’acteurs et, d’autre part, qu’il favorise la remise en question du modèle conventionnel de la maison unifamiliale détachée en répondant à des enjeux d’abordabilité, de simplicité volontaire, de densification douce et de transition écologique des périphéries urbaines.

Mots-clés : mini-maison, unité d’habitation accessoire, habitation durable, discours environnemental, transition écologique urbaine, banlieue, ville durable


Urban sprawl has long been a puzzle for sustainable urban transition in North America. For decades, urbanism has been waging war against it. Simultaneously, representations of the single family detached home has been evolving and adapting to the emergence of discourses about sustainable cities. In Quebec, Canada, the tiny house phenomenon place in these debates is ambiguous. Tiny houses have been presented as a sustainable and affordable housing utopia, as an inexploited market niche and as a key element in a « soft » densification strategy that could help suburbs transition to a more sustainable urban form. This action research case study proposes to study this ambiguity by analyzing the process of coconstruction of the « tiny house » object in Quebec by using press analysis, documentary analysis and participant observations. This article concludes that this process facilitated the creation of new links between a wide variety of actors and seems to be an opportunity to question the single family detached home model in regard to affordability, voluntary simplicity, soft densification and the sustainable transition of suburbs.

Keywords: tiny house, accessory dwelling units, sustainable housing, environmental discourse, sustainable urban transition, suburbs, sustainable cities