Region allocated increased amount of land to development, Seattle think-tank finds
Doug W
Sun
The region failed to curb population sprawl in recent years after some success in creating more compact communities in the ’90s, a new report shows.
The share of new urban and suburban growth that went into pedestrian-oriented development in Metro Vancouver declined from 2001 through 2006, according to the Sightline Institute.
Using 2006 census data, the Seattle-based think-tank found that the amount of land developed in Metro Vancouver to accommodate new residents increased compared with the two previous census periods.
Nevertheless, Metro Vancouver’s growth has been “fairly compact” in comparison to many U.S. cities, according to Sightline research director Clark Williams-Derry.
“Yet there are signs that Greater Vancouver’s smart-growth leadership may be slipping,” said Williams-Derry, in the report entitled Slowing Down.
“The region marked its clearest smart-growth successes before 2001.
“Somewhat surprisingly, the pace of compact growth slowed over the most recent census interval.”
Compact neighbourhoods accounted for just 56 per cent of new urban and suburban development, compared with 67 per cent during the ’90s.
In an interview, Williams-Derry said that the decline in density could be connected to a slowdown in the rate of population growth in the region between 2001-2006 compared to the previous census periods.
When governments are faced with a high influx of new people, they are often more willing to accommodate people in concentrated areas than during times of low population growth, he said.
While giving the region a failing grade, the report did praise Vancouver and North Vancouver for creating smart-growth neighbourhoods. These two cities were followed in ranking by New Westminster, Burnaby, White Rock and Richmond.
Between 2001 and 2006, Vancouver‘s pedestrian-oriented communities had a net growth of 27,000 residents — about four-fifths of the net population growth for the city.
In Metro Vancouver, about one out of every eight residents lives in a neighbourhood with pedestrian-oriented densities with the City of Vancouver home to nearly two-thirds of them.
The Vancouver area led the region in another category — the share of residents living in neighbourhoods with at least 20 residents per acre.
In Vancouver, three out of four residents lived in such “compact” densities as of 2006. Similarly, four other municipalities — Burnaby, New Westminster, White Rock and North Vancouver — had one in three residents at such densities.
But even these numbers are low, according to the report, citing research suggesting that urban densities exceeding 40 residents per acre are required for travel on foot and bicycle to really flourish.
Sightline’s report was based on data from the last four census findings. The think-tank divided the landscape of Metro Vancouver into a 30-by-30 metre grid for each census period. In each grid Sightline calculated the population density of circles containing at least 500 residents.
Williams-Derry said in the report that the trend towards greater sprawl is undermining Premier Gordon Campbell’s goal of cutting greenhouse-gas emissions by one-third by 2020.
He said that climate-changing emissions can only be reduced if progress is made “in creating compact, transit-and-pedestrian-friendly neighbourhoods that ease car dependence for B.C. residents.”
© The Vancouver Sun 2008
