With housing prices in the stratosphere and the typical salary stagnating, Canadians are finding ever more diverse living spaces, particularly in dense urban areas.

The National takes a tour of the new housing frontier, going inside the “village in a box” concept of many condo developments, ultra-small apartments, co-housing, shipping-container dwellings and retail-to-residential conversions. Are these viable alternatives to the typical single-family dwelling that so many Canadians can no longer afford? And the big question: how much space do we really need?