Yes in our Backyard: Tackling Stigma Towards Transitional Housing Through Design

Transitional housing is temporary supported accommodation for people experiencing homelessness. It is practical and better than other types of temporary accommodation currently offered in New Zealand. However, public resistance is becoming an immovable force that slows or prevents such housing developments from coming to fruition. It is often received with community opposition due to the preconceived stereotypes, stigmatisation and particular attributes of the housing and the people living there. With the rapidly increasing number of people experiencing homelessness and living in inadequate and ill-equipped motel rooms across New Zealand, public resistance to transitional housing is becoming an important and unanswered problem.

In response to this issue, 'Yes, In Our Backyard' explores how design as an outcome can alleviate stigmatisation towards transitional housing whilst being sensitive and responsive to its tenants' social, mental, and physical needs. The research is divided into two parts and employs a design-led investigation. The first part begins with a precis of literature reviews, precedent studies, and surveying transitional housing tenants to develop design strategies, criteria, and a design framework for tackling housing stigmatisation. The second part implements the design framework through two transitional housing designs across two case study sites in Lower Hutt. The designs assess the limitations and successes of the set design framework in different scales and uncover design interventions that could embody the framework.

The two case studies guided by the design framework found that design can alleviate stigma and potentially change perceptions through its programme and physical externalities. As a design framework and exemplary case studies, the outcomes of this research hopes to become an example to designers and developers in how to construct more humane, just, and democratic communities that address the multitude of issues that comes with public opposition.