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Of the various ways developers have created and exploited the high demand for condominium living, there is little empirical research identifying and analyzing the growing influence of condominium developers over condominium governance and living as a means to increase profit margins. Drawing from survey and interviews with condominium owners, board members, and industry representatives in Ontario and New York state, this paper explores how developers maintain control and influence in condominium affairs long after construction is completed. Our research reveals that developers may desire this influence to extract further value from development and sway major governance decisions in their favor, depriving owners and other residents of the right to shape their collective living arrangements. Examining regulatory environments in Ontario and New York, we suggest there are few regulations that adequately deal with developer influence. We conclude by arguing that developer influence undermines prospects for democratic, collective governance that is essential to the sustainability of condominium tenure and to the success and livability of urban regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid urbanization of Metro Manila led to a surge in condominium construction projects, which, despite offering efficient housing solutions, faced significant challenges due to dense urban environment, susceptibility to natural disasters & the health and safety issues related to accidents, losses, injuries, damages, and/or delays arising during the execution of a project which may adversely affect its success. This study explored the efficacy of the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) in assessing and prioritizing risks specific to Metro Manila's condominium construction projects, addressing a critical gap in current risk assessment methodologies. The study engaged mixed methods, integrating Meta-Analysis, Experts Consultation, and AHP, to identify and prioritize Risk Factors (RFs) in condominium construction projects. A systematic review through meta-analysis revealed nine critical RFs, including Technical/Design, Financial/Economic, Environmental, Regulatory/Legal, Socio-Political, Logistics/Supply Chain, Management/Supervision, Quality, and Health and Safety Risks. Inputs from experts from a diverse group of qualified professionals had been pooled to validate these findings. Through AHP analysis, risks specific to Metro Manila's condominium construction projects were revealed, with Health and Safety Risk (19.52%), Quality Risk (15.97%) and Management/Supervision Risk (15.77%) as the major concerns. An internal consistency of 0.71% attested to the reliability testing of the results. Given the complexity of condominium construction projects, this study responds to an important demand: a more systemic understanding of risk factors. Moreover, this study is relevant to further enhance and improve sustainability in condominium projects as well as performance of the construction industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the structural vulnerabilities in the condominium governance in the U.S. Topics include hidden weaknesses in condominium ownership aspects that are designed to prevent tragic engineering failures, legal responses to the disaster in which half of Champlain Towers South Condominium collapsed in Surfside suburbs in Miami, Florida on June 24, 2021, and effects of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's changes in insurance requirements on condominium governance.

Between 2005 and 2010, the average size of a new condo oscillated between 875 and 925 square feet (Perkins 2014). By 2015, a new condo average size is 797 square feet according to RealNet Canada. During this period, we witnessed in Vancouver, Toronto and Montréal, the rise of the micro-condo, which varies, from 226 square feet to 395 square feet. This article examines potential economic, demographic and cultural causes and consequences of the rise of micro-condos and their impact on the urban landscape and public space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

‘Man is Space: Vitić Dances’ is a multiyear community art project in a 10-storey condominium building in Zagreb, Croatia. Built by the architect Ivo Vitić, the building, considered a masterpiece of modern architecture, and registered as a national monument is now in a deteriorated state that threatens the lives of its 256 inhabitants. The project started in 2003 when Croatian artist Boris Bakal (Shadow Casters) moved into the building and became deeply acquainted with its history, its tenants and their everyday hardship. The artist aimed to raise the awareness of the tenants and local community to restore this iconic building though a complex interdisciplinary endeavor that combined permanent artistic and social interventions and programs, in and around the building. This ‘artivism’ project re-created and socialized a commonly shared space through intensive artistic presence by unifying tenants to collaborate for its preservation. It allows us to move away from a notion of the building as a whole to a notion of the building as multiplicity, from the study of the urban neighborhood to the study of urban choreographies of architecture. Vitić Dances has also secured funds for the restoration of the building’s facade and for the recording of a documentary film about this project and the building. Indeed, restoration started in February 2016 and will constitute a major investment, funded in part by the City of Zagreb, in residential housing in Croatia. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

ABSTRACT This article analyzes the evolution and spatial dynamics of condominium development in Toronto, the largest housing market in Canada and the site of a rapid take-up of condominium tenure and construction over the last 40 years. The article probes the most influential policies that fostered and regulated condominium growth, and explores the implications for the continued restructuring of the city. A host of factors, including neoliberal state policies, have played a decisive role in fostering what we term condo-ism, referring to an emerging nexus of economic development, finance, and consumption sector interests that have coalesced around condominium construction and culture. Policies have redirected growth to the urban core, channeled capital investments and young residents, and promoted gentrification, ultimately transforming the character of Toronto's central business district. The article explores these changes, and discusses their implications for contemporary emerging forms of capitalist urbanization and restructuring of the city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This section offers news briefs on tall buildings and urban development. The observation deck at One World Trade Center opened in May 29, 2015, offering impressive sights from the U.S.'s tallest building. The Greenland Group of China will break ground on the two-tower King Blue Condominiums in Toronto, Canada's Entertainment District. The Philippines Supreme Court has prevented the continued construction of the Torre de Manila which is ruining a protected view of the Rizal Monument.

Construction schedules are uncertain in nature; therefore, predicting construction duration is a difficult task. Extensive research has proposed mathematical models to predict construction duration based on regression analysis, Monte Carlo method (MCM), and so on. Yet regression analysis cannot capture duration uncertainties. Studies normally use Monte Carlo methods to simulate hundreds to thousands of activities in a project schedule. This can be complicated, time-consuming, and unrealistic because the statistical properties of all the activities cannot be readily determined in practice. Typical construction sequences in condominium building construction were first identified, and then the statistical distributions of controlling activities on the sequences were surveyed. Two-stage questionnaire surveys and goodness-of-fit statistical tests were conducted to achieve the mentioned objectives. Subsequently, a model for predicting the duration of building construction was proposed and applied to a high-rise building project. The results showed that the proposed model reasonably predicted the construction duration for this apartment building. The model fills the gap in knowledge of construction time forecast by introducing the concept of controlling activities to simplify the evaluation of the schedule uncertainty in multistory building construction. This research is beneficial for practitioners to estimate an overall construction schedule of building projects, especially in preconstruction phases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]