The implications of condominium neighbourhoods for long-term urban revitalisation

Article history: Received 16 August 2016 Received in revised form 17 October 2016 Accepted 21 November 2016 Available online xxxx Condominium neighbourhoods are emerging in intensifying city centres as a response to market and demographic preferences for homeownership.While themulti-ownership structure of individual condominiumbuildings accommodates a short-term demand, the long-term implications for neighbourhoods is a source of concern. In particular, the presence of unit ownerswith varied acquisition objectives can lead to an anticommons problem resulting in building disinvestment due to an inability to reach decisions on sustainable maintenance fees and capital reserve funds, and a lack of end of lifecycle planning. The City of Toronto is experiencing unprecedented condominium development and serves as the basis for a case study that assesses the anticipated future neighbourhood challenges associated with a predominantly condominium-based form of ownership. Twentytwo local stakeholders were interviewed to identify problems that are viewed as sources of concern due to decisionsmade during the early stages of a building's lifecycle and the absence of a neighbourhood planning strategy. An analysis of the results indicates that lock-in, lacunae and neighbourhood effects will likely complicate revitalisation efforts as condominium neighbourhoods become more prevalent. Limited stakeholder recognition further suggests that it is necessary to raise a greater awareness of the potential anticommons impediments to long-term collective revitalisation actions. © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).