All About Cities: Container housing?

With affordable housing being in short supply, how can we add units that are inexpensive, quick to build, and eco-friendly?

In All About Cities, Wendy Waters offers one solution - re-use shipping containers and convert them into homes.

Though the idea may seem a little bit strange, designers are already working on projects using the containers.

The town of Whistler, British Columbia, is considering building a container village to house workers who cannot afford the resort community's high housing prices.

The modular design of the stackable containers also means that they can be arranged in any number of ways.

While they may not be suitable for long-term housing needs, they could be very useful for short-term use caused by natural disasters, large events, or temporary housing shortages.