Is the pandemic-related decline of big city central business districts (CBDs) merely a hiccup in their grand and enduring history? Possibly. But the chance that working from home might permanently decay this traditional business space has sparked discussions about what might be done to modify thousands of square feet of empty offices.
Public housing? It has had a history of being built without regard to the employment opportunities that lift low and no income citizens out of poverty. At the moment, low income jobs and services have vanished from CBDs along with thousands of office workers.
And the possibilities of using CBDs for public housing raises in turn the spectre of those who live in it being forced to commute elsewhere for work. That indeed might be a boon for currently under-utilized public transit created to pour hundreds of thousands of people downtown.
In any case, there are major hurdles to be overcome, including the difficulties of inexpensively converting commercial buildings to housing. The United Kingdom has, even before the pandemic, conducted a major experiment in enticing developers to build/refurbish in decaying industrial/business neighbourhoods1. Some of the low rent housing created has been so problematic that many would argue the results are not fit for habitation2.
Never mind low cost housing, the repurposing of CBDs in any manner offers a sea of possibilities as well as difficulties. Politico has published a lengthy article based on the hollowing out of Manhattan. Read more: Cities with empty offices see new room to expand housing
