In the search for solutions to the global housing crisis, Bee Breeders are calling for essay submissions to explore the problem further. Winning entries will be included in the first issue of their print publication ARCHHIVE, which will focus on affordable housing. Participants can submit their essays until August 25, 2018.

Cities offer access to so much of what people want: jobs, transportation, healthcare, safety, education, variety, mobility. But cities also have limited spatial and geographical dimensions. And so, the land on which the physical infrastructure of cities is constructed - the space for buildings, parks, streets, utilities - has a price tag. WHO? has the right to this valuable space, and HOW? its value should be regulated, are core questions to the complicated topic of affordable housing. It is a subject central to the studies and pursuits of urbanists, architects, engineers, and designers, as well as sociologists, economists, and politicians.

As history has shown, affordable housing relies only in part on design. Its success or failure is dependent on a number of complex factors including trends in the housing market, local and regional incomes, transportation, zoning, and land use policies. The construction or re-purposing of existing infrastructure for affordable housing requires the support of politicians, city planners, and residents.

What is affordable housing?

Community co-living facilities. 3D-printed homes. Shared home-ownership contracts. Government-subsidized apartments. Prefabricated homes, delivered assembled or shipped in flat-pack boxes. Tax credits. Transit-oriented development. Funding programs for teachers to afford housing down-payments within their school districts. Stackable modular housing units for growing families. Inclusionary zoning ordinances incentivizing below-market-rate units within new housing developments. Second homes designed to fit within rear lots. Intergenerational house-share programs for sheltering the elderly at below-market rent. Softwares for tracking affordable properties. Online marketplaces for cheap student homes...

There is no one solution to making housing affordable. Traditional government-subsidized properties have been complemented by a host of new ideas and platforms enabling people to own or purchase homes. Startups, investors, entrepreneurs, and both for- and non-profit organizations are tackling global affordable housing crises, inventing new means for driving down housing prices. All of these ideas fall within the wide-ranging topic of Affordable Housing.

Submission deliverables

Do you have an idea or something to say about Affordable Housing? Bee Breeders will accept submissions of all kinds, written or illustrative, that can fit on a single page or a two-page spread, to be included in its print publication. 

Submissions can be historical, present, or prospective. They can be data-centric, analytical, fictional, critical, or conceptual. We are interested in reviewing submissions from participants related to any field or discipline.

Submission format

This print publication will be formatted in portrait orientation. Final print dimensions are still to be determined.

Submissions are to fill maximum one spread. Images or graphics should be formatted in portrait orientation to fit a single page, or formatted to be split on 2x facing portrait-oriented sheets in a spread.

All submissions are digital:
• Text submissions, including footnotes, citations, and illustration notes, must be submitted digitally in .doc format.
• Images must be submitted in .jpeg or .tiff formats, 300dpi, and CMYK.
• Vector-only graphics should be submitted in .pdf formats. Should submissions be selected for print, .ai or .eps files may be requested.

General conditions

Text
• Spelling in American standard English.
• Relevant footnotes or citations should follow The Chicago Manual of Style.
• Essays, articles, or other text documents cannot have been previously published.

Selected Authors and Contributors

Authors of all selected submissions will be credited for their work. The publication will be featured on our partner websites, and is intended to receive international exposure. Each selected author will receive a free copy of ARCHHIVE Issue No 1.

To see how to submit your works, please visit the competition's website. 

Top image courtesy of Bee Breeders

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