In order to ensure genuine public acceptance of both planning proposals and of community planning per se, professional planning practices should involve a high degree of active citizen participation. The process of democratic action in contemporary North American urban areas is frustrated by the institutionalization of authority and responsibility, and as a result, the usual approach to the resolution of planning problems is often manipulative and managerial. Professionals tend to plan for the community rather than with it. Planning is conceived as a six-step process beginning with problem identification, and proceeding through goal formation, survey and analysis, design of a plan, plan implementation, and evaluation and reorientation. Community development, a process by which members of a community learn why and how to participate in the planning and control of changes which will affect them, is suggested as a technique whereby personal interest and democratic participation can be reinstilled in today's complex communities, as determining forces in the planning process. Community development achieves not only all the advantages of active citizen participation, but is concerned also with the progress of the individual, the development of co-operative facilities, and the strengthening of the process of democratic action. The process of community development involves fourteen elements, arranged according to seven periods over time, which can be integrated with the planning process. Although this integration appears to detract from the efficiency of the usual planning process, it does create good will and co-operation between citizens and technical planning experts, and provides continuity to the planning process through the conservation of organized community resources. It is no surprise to members of the planning profession to find that the degree of public acceptance of local government planning proposals is directly related to the amount of citizen participation which occurs during the evolution of those proposals. But for planners to relate the relative degree of public acceptance of a planning proposal to the number of elements of community development which were evidently utilized, either implicitly or explicitly, in the evolution of that proposal, is another matter. From a detailed study of five local government planning proposals developed in the City of Vancouver, it is concluded that community development should be used as a technique in the planning process, in order to gain the advantages of active citizen participation, and to ensure that the proposals will be acceptable to the people they are to affect. The responsibility for executing the community development process rests with the technical planners, the local municipal administration, and the leaders of the community in question. The financing of such a scheme would be shared between the community to be affected, and the municipal government, either through voluntary subscriptions, or tax revenues, or both. The conclusion based on the analysis of the case studies supports the arguments subtended previously. However, because planning is action oriented, it is concluded that the only true method of testing the hypothesis would be by attempting to apply a community development program in conjunction with the planning process, in an actual problem situation. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

Associated with the rapid increase in the proportion of multiple-family dwellings in Canada during the 1960's, was the practice of locating apartments in single-family residential areas. As suburban apartments increased, homeowners became more vocal in their opposition to mixed housing. Problems arose over mixed housing due to the fact that homeowners, developers and local government officials all had their own ideas as to where apartments should be located. As there was not adequate data on the subject to unequivocably state the correctness of one point of view over another, much more information was needed regarding the economic, political and the social implications of mixed housing. This study focuses on some of the social implications of locating apartments in single-family residential areas. Emphasis is placed on the examination of four issues related to this topic. They are: (1) The role of single-family housing and its environment in providing for the housing needs of a large segment of the housing market. (2) The growth of multiple-family housing and the need for effective apartment location policies and practices. (3) The feasibility of mixing people who possess different social and demographic characteristics in the same neighbourhood. (4) The validity of homeowners' opposition to mixed housing. The method used in this study is a combination of the library research approach, and a sample survey of homeowners' attitudes towards mixed housing. The first three issues were examined by the library research approach while the fourth was examined by the sample survey approach. The interview schedule was administered in three survey areas located in two Metropolitan Vancouver municipalities. These municipalities were North Vancouver District and Surrey. The findings show, first of all, that there is a need to conserve some single-family housing areas as they play an invaluable role in providing a type of housing for persons who want to purchase their own home, want a high degree of privacy, prefer to live among people with similar interests and backgrounds, want a large open play space for their children and who desire some degree of exclusiveness. Secondly, apartment location policies must be formulated and adhered to to reduce homeowner opposition to mixed housing by providing some degree of assurance that apartments will or will not be constructed in their neighbourhoods. These policies must not only articulate what is commonly referred to as "the good of the whole community", but also reflect the attitudes and values of smaller groups of residents who form an integral part of the community. Thirdly, while it is theoretically appealing to think of the benefits to be gained by mixing people of differing economic status and demographic characteristics, the findings of studies on this topic indicate that in no case have the ends to be achieved by a social mix ever been accomplished. The usual result has been the social isolation of persons or groups in the minority by those forming the majority. Lastly, the findings of the sample survey show that in mixed housing situations, homeowners generally approve of the appearance and type of apartments built in their neighbourhoods, and they do not perceive them to be the cause of the most of the problems normally associated with apartments. An inconsistency appears in the homeowners' attitudes in that homeowners who were living in the areas when apartments were built, continued to oppose mixed housing, while homeowners who had moved into the area after the apartments were built, approved of mixed housing. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

The purpose of this study was to determine whether newcomers to a large urban area, could be of special assistance to the planner. In order to discover whether newcomers could be of special use in the planning process, it was necessary to determine if newcomers' opinions of the city differed from those of longterm residents. For if they did, then the planner might be able to derive from the newcomers fresh insight into the planning problems posed by his city. Hence three hypotheses were formulated: I. Newer residents' opinions regarding the quality of their neighbourhood's services and facilities vary significantly from those of longterm residents. II. Newer residents' community participation varies significantly from that of longterm residents. III. Newer residents' views on the quality of neighbourhood services and facilities and the extent of their community participation vary significantly according to the size and location of their former residence. These hypotheses were tested by means of a questionnaire orally administered to a random sample of 108 residents of the Kitsilano area of Vancouver. On the basis of the answers obtained, each of the hypotheses was submitted to the statistical scrutiny of multiple discriminant analysis, multiple regression analysis, and percentage comparisons. Newer residents were found to have different opinions from long-term residents on the quality of their neighbourhood's services and facilities and to participate less in community activities. Within the newcomer ranks former location was an important distinguishing variable. Thus all three hypotheses were substantiated by the results of this study as well as by some earlier research findings. Hence it was concluded that residence length differences alone, were significant enough to devise some way of consulting newcomers as one aid to the urban planning process. The planner can potentially make use of the newcomers' previous experience and unencumbered perceptions to gain fresh insight into the planning problems posed by his city. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

The environment of city planning practice includes increasing unemployment rates in the communities practitioners serve. There should be effects of this; however, there is little discussion in the literature of the relationship between high unemployment and planning. This thesis is an exploratory study of that relationship. It examines the effects of high unemployment on city planning as mediated by the political and fiscal environments. Three levels of planning are considered: strategic, normative, and operational planning. The subjective quality of the workplace is also considered. A preliminary review of the literatures on unemployment, on political participation and its economic antecedents, on planning, and on municipal fiscal stress, was followed by interviews with twenty-two planners, councillors, and administrators of nongovernmental services for the unemployed. The thesis describes the relationship between unemployment and political participation. (Canadian data on magnetic tape which can be used in quantitative work in this area are listed in the Appendix.) The implications of that relationship are then developed for city planning. The effects on planning of unemployment-related municipal fiscal pressure are also explored. A number of hypotheses are generated which take into account contextual effects. These are incorporated into four future scenarios which make different assumptions about the ability of left- and right-of-center governments to reduce the unemployment rate. The thesis concludes with directions for future research and some general issues. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

A new set of urban design requirements is proposed to replace the current urban design guidelines for the B. C. Place site in Vancouver, B. C. The site is 90.6 hectares of open area, contiguous to the downtown, it is the subject of extensive planning activities. The site has been chosen because it is free of most of the typical impediments that constrain urban planning in more congested areas of the city. Accordingly, a new way of expressing urban space is appropriate. To be valid urban design requirements must be conceived with a purpose in mind. The purpose, here, is the essential element of urban design, a shared vision of urban space. It must define, within a broad public consensus, a set of urban design requirements communicating, over an extended time period, a consistent vision of urban space. Six urban design requirements are set out to implement a shared vision of urban space. They have been reduced to a minimum to provide as much freedom of expression to the design professions as possible. They are under six headings: Interim Land Use, Site Development, Physical Form and Design, Environment, Occupancy, and Movement. Pivotal in the composition of the urban design requirements is an instrument called the Orthodox Surface Modulator, augmented by a Check List of architectural design elements. Together they become a metaphoric framework of reference, a part of the creative process within the development control system. The Orthodox Surface Modulator, as it is applied, describes the volumetric forms of building envelopes and the public urban spaces between buildings. It describes buildings and spaces to enhance public amenity. It may, under specific environmental circumstances, mitigate undesirable site conditions by describing building envelopes as buffer buildings, shielding passive urban space from noise and distractions. Urban Space is discussed. A Shared Vision of Urban Space, how it is evolved by public discourse, and a proposed Theory of Urban Space is explained. A critique of current urban development on Burrard Street, Vancouver, between Georgia Street and the waterfront explains why the present urban design guidelines, transfer of development rights and bonusing, have failed to produce the intended urban spatial amenity. Urban design requirements are not a new phenomenon. Only since the early 1970s have they taken on their present complex form in the City of Vancouver. A brief historic outline traces the antecedents of the proposed urban design requirements, placing them in context from early Greek attempts to rationalize optical distortion to the present day. The proposed application of the six urban design requirements and the Surface Modulator would be mandatory. The manner in which the elements of the Check List are integrated into the matrix of the Surface Modulator is proposed to be discretionary. The complete set of urban design requirements are intended to be used in a negotiating procedure common in planning practice. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

The built environment has evolved through a layering process of both human needs and aspirations. We as a society 'Worship' the remnants of these richly varied and complex environments. In the previous 100 years, however, our environment has become a battleground for survival on many levels: environmental health, societal boundaries and quality of life. The so-called haphazard mode of environmental development was proceeding so quickly that 'MAN', through organization and control, sought to harness rampant growth by providing a mechanism to, in essence, protect us from ourselves. This mechanism was development standardization. Zoning and subdivision standards initially had a very positive effect on residential districts. They achieved the desired objective of improving the health, safety and welfare of local citizens. To remain a successful regulatory mechanism, however, requires frequent review. (Generally government regulations are continually reviewed because of a need to respond to current reality - a typical example is tax reform laws). This is especially true for development regulation, which necessarily must respond to the rapidly changing and dynamic evolution of the North American city and its peoples. In the case of residential development standards, however, there has been a lack of policy review resulting in a back-water of no change to the standard. Development standards, that were a direct response to mass housing development in the early nineteen hundreds, in many instances are still in place in municipalities in the Greater Vancouver area and likely throughout many other North American cities as well. It is apparent that the very standards that were invoked to ensure residential quality are now preventing development from creating that quality. At the core of the issue of planning and design standards is the lack of understanding of these two disciplines - by each other and by the public. As a result, in many instances both planners and the public equate design with a simple problem solving process according to explicit rules - the standards. Herein lies the core of the problem. This misrepresentation of design and what it stands for in terms of environmental quality. This misunderstanding has greatly influenced the world we live in and this influence as of late is not of the positive nature. The thrust of this thesis is an exploration of the issue of design in the context of residential development standards. What are the standards which influence/impact residential development? What were the objectives for which these standards were originally implemented? How do the standards currently support the implementation of recognized design principles which lead to high quality environments? What kind of residential world is created by adherence to the standards and what opportunities are lost? It is evident from this study that while the mechanism and often the mathematical formula of development standardization have remained relatively constant during the past half century, the city and the city dweller have not. Most new neighbourhoods in today's North American city lack identity, character and quality environment due to a set of zoning and subdivision standards that are antiquated and often based on arbitrary numbers. The case study examples of Village Homes in California and Ashcroft subdivision in Richmond, illustrate that conventional development standards prevent adherence to established residential design principles and that the nature of development standards is such that they are unable to contend with important and often basic design issues that are not amenable to simple arithmetic formula and measurement. It is also clear that standards not only adversely effect the physical condition of the residential environment, but also the people involved in the process of designing, constructing and regulating residential development. The designer is disillusioned, the developer confused, and the planner misfocused. The result is poor design, poor development, and poor planning. The failure to adopt and implement consistent and up-to-date policies and objectives for residential development standards has lead to the creation of stale, un-inviting, un-interesting and characterless living environments. The lesson to be learned here is that planners must first become more in tune with the issues and principles of design and second they must not be afraid to question established planning mechanisms. We therefore must ensure that a) the best mechanism is being employed and b) that it is based on appropriate and current policies and objectives that are leading to a better residential environment. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

The Corporation of the District of Burnaby, B.C., in recognition of its growing complexity and the expanding goals of its citizenry, adopted the Burnaby Zoning By-law #4742 in June of 1965. In section 7.3(i) it specifies that Preliminary Planning Approval (PPA) must be received from the Director of Planning before the issuance of a Building Permit. PPA is intended to ensure that the preliminary design drawings meet all of the provisions of the Zoning By-law, reflect Council policies and observe other relevant municipal by-laws. The system in Burnaby appears to be effective in obtaining a signed commitment from the developer agreeing to execute the project in accordance with the approved PPA drawings. It is after this point that the present system appears to break down— 76% of projects constructed 1974 -1976 were not completed exactly according to the approved design drawings. Most of the variance occurs in finishes, details and landscaping as opposed to siting, bulk and use regulations, and is such that the environmental criteria which could have been met by the faithful execution of the approved plans, is not being met. This reduces environmental standards below that which is being approved on the PPA drawings. The purpose of this study is: (1) to show why compliance is necessary/desirable; (2) to understand the problem and suggest possible remedies. The findings confirm that PPA compliance is desirable for the following reasons: the short term achievement of each of 48 community objectives is directly dependent upon compliance to the PPA drawings; one change in any of nine compliance categories can adversely affect the short term achievement of many objectives; compliance is not advantageous to only one group to the exclusion of all others, rather it is mutually beneficial to at least three major groups (the Municipality, the general public and developers) in eight compliance categories and to two groups in the ninth; compliance can offer a number of advantages to the Municipality, the general public and developers' and no major disadvantages have been found to indicate that compliance should not be encouraged. The findings also confirm that compliance is critical for the achievement of many community objectives. It has been found that 38 of the 48 objectives discussed cannot be achieved by alternative devices independently of the PPA process. The examination of the present development control system from PPA application to completion shows that variation from the approved drawings can occur because of bureaucratic errors, unfamiliarity with the PPA drawings, ignorance of proper amendment procedures, blatant disregard for the drawings and peculiar site conditions. It was then found that the current: system can be adapted to deal with the first three potential sources of non-compliance; but the system is currently incapable of effectively dealing with blatant disregard for the drawings or peculiar site conditions, nor can it easily adapt. These observations resulted in several recommendations. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

To explore the thesis that the landscapes of cities reflect the ideological underpinnings of the social groups dominant during the periods of significant urban growth a detailed investigation was undertaken within the City of Vancouver. The correspondence between the ideology and institutions of a dominant business elite and the landscapes created in the period between 1900 and 1940 provide the major evidence. The diffusion of an American reform ideology into Eastern Canada and later into the City of Vancouver is described. Two major manifestations of this ideology are documented. The first, articulated in the non-partisan, at-large election, and city manager movements was concerned with the need to ensure efficiency and honesty in urban government. The second concerned the need to institute urban planning as a means to facilitate efficient economic and urban growth. The principal reform advocates in Vancouver were members of the city's business elite. Operating from within the institutional framework of the Vancouver Board of Trade they lobbied the City and Provincial Governments throughout the period 1918-1925 for the enactment of planning legislation. Success was achieved when the Provincial Legislature passed the Town Planning Act in December 1925. In turn the Vancouver City Council created the Vancouver Town Planning Commission. The majority of Commissioners were businessmen who held the reform view of planning as the facilitator of efficient growth. A planning expert, Harland Bartholomew, was hired in 1926 to provide the Commission with the desired blueprint for development. Holding similar views on planning to those of the commissioner his 1929 Plan provided a structured development plan of considerable detail which was the primary determinant of Vancouver's evolving urban structure until the late 1960's. This influence was expressed primarily through the operation of the zoning by-laws which specified legally-permitted land uses throughout the city. Vancouver's urban structure, in reflecting the ideology of reform underpinning both the actions of the Town Planning Commission and the nature of the Bartholomew Plan, supports the general thesis of the dissertation. Parallels between the civic expression of reform and National expressions of reform are drawn as are some implications of the study's findings for geographical research and our understanding of present urban planning. The analyses presented are based upon a wide range of archival and secondary materials. Important among these were City and Municipal Council minute books, the minutes and correspondence of the Vancouver Town Planning Commission, the minutes of the Vancouver Board of Trade and its Committees, personal papers, city and biographical directories, maps, newspapers and magazines and government and planning commission reports. The account of the American origins of urban reform is derived largely from secondary sources. / Arts, Faculty of / Geography, Department of / Graduate

The concept of coastal and marine spatial planning (CMSP), a tool now used globally, was established as a way to manage increasing interests in development and conservation of coastal and ocean areas. Planning literature has recognized the importance of being able to characterize good quality plans; however, no standard for how to evaluate coastal and marine spatial plans exists. This research provides a foundational effort in establishing an evaluative tool (and baseline) for CMSP plan quality. The evaluative tool assesses the overall quality of the content of coastal and marine spatial plans according to existing planning literature; and assess the orientation of the plans towards the benefits of CMSP espoused by UNESCO. Case studies are also used to obtain a better understanding of the processes that created two coastal and marine spatial plans, and evaluate if any of the evaluation elements not evident in the plans were actually included in the planning process. The coastal and marine spatial plans scored quite low on the evaluative tool. Ultimately, the plans evaluated seem to present facts and intentions without telling a story. The case studies, on the other hand, show that while the plans do not exhibit information about many of the elements measured by the evaluation tool, their development processes were far more robust than the evaluation results indicate. The amount of support that the processes garnered also indicate that these were high quality and successful planning processes. The findings show that the planning process matters, and that it is important to then document that robust, meaningful participatory process in the plan. Key information about how coastal and marine spatial plans, and other plans, can be improved is presented. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Urban and Regional Planning in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester 2016. / April 15, 2016. / Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning, Marine Spatial Planning, Plan Evaluation / Includes bibliographical references. / Tim Chapin, Professor Directing Dissertation; Ralph Brower, University Representative; Chris Coutts, Committee Member; Will Butler, Committee Member; Donna Christie, Committee Member.

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