BUSINESS CYCLE AND HOMOGENEITY IN THE RESIDENTIAL BUILT ENVIRONMENT: CANADA, 1986-1996

Today, many of us find ourselves housed within large tracts that are homogeneous in that the dwellings around them are similar to our own. On the other hand, heterogeneity in built environments is often an outcome of redevelopment. Because they are often done one-off, conversions and reconstruction can gradually reduce the homogeneity of an environment. Miron (1999) presented a method (termed “EA Circles”) of measuring the homogeneity of the residential built environment. This paper extends that analysis to show how, and explore why, homogeneity changed from 1986 to 1996. I present estimates that show a substantial increase in the incidence of homogeneous residential built environments in Canada during this period. These estimates show how the pace of redevelopment differed between the boom years of the late 1980s and the hesitant economic recovery in the first half of the 1990s. Furthermore, case studies are presented to illustrate how the EA Circle method helps to identify pathways of change in the residential built environment and to tie these to the business cycle. [Key words: homogeneity, built form, business cycle.]