As gentrification threatens to uproot communities, the concept of cooperative housing and community land ownership has the potential to turn the tide and put the destiny of our cities into the hands of residents. Villages in Cities takes us across North America to places like New York City, Oakland, Portland, and Jackson, Mississippi in the USA, and Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, and Vancouver in Canada, presenting concrete examples of citizens taking back the land and claiming their right to secure housing. It also presents a succinct portrait of the problems facing the ownership of urban land, the dependency of city government on property taxes, and the contradictions that these elements imply. The book finally connects these insights with the 'Right to the City' movement emerging internationally. In Montreal, 1968, speculators announced their plan to demolish six blocks of the downtown heritage neighborhood of Milton Pare and build enormous high-rise condos, hotels, office towers, and shopping malls. It was a declaration of war, and the local community responded in kind. What followed was a David versus Goliath struggle that not only saved the heritage architecture from destruction and its residents from encroaching gentrification, but would also begin the creation of the largest non-profit cooperative housing project on an urban community land trust in North America: the Milton Pare Community. With some 647 residences for over 1800 low and medium income residents democratically self-managing their housing and enjoying all the benefits of a strong community, the Milton Pare Community continues to be a veritable village in the heart of the city.

Book jacket.