Multi-generational families: ethnicity-informed residential design in Markham

Abstract

Canadian housing policies favour white nuclear families despite the presence of diverse cultures and multi-generational living arrangements across the country. Missing Middle housing provides important context for debates about affordability yet does not address the spatial needs and cultural practices of multi-generational immigrant families. Using Markham as the study site, this thesis examines how conventional detached housing constrains households whose caregiving roles and domestic routines differ from nuclear family assumptions. Grounded in filial piety and cultural sustainability, the research uses a hypothetical scenario methodology in which an existing detached house becomes the site where a multi-generational Chinese immigrant family’s daily patterns reveal design inadequacies. Through spatial analysis, daily activity mapping, and design critique, the thesis develops architectural interventions that centre multi-generational living and cultural values. It argues that adequate housing must ask not only how many units can be built, but how many different families can live well within them.