The north-south rail line known in Vancouver as the Arbutus corridor (Figure #1) is currently under-used but not yet abandoned, and its future use is in debate. As owner of the corridor, the Canadian Pacific Rail Co. has publicly announced its desire to change the corridor into a multi-use development. According to the wishes of residents and reflected in the City of Vancouver's policy, however, the corridor will be preserved for transportation use. An alternative design solution would be reactivating the rail line as a much needed north-south transit route, with an adjacent greenway for pedestrian and bike use, as a more responsible and sustainable vision for this corridor. The feasibility of this design, tested at a smaller scale in three Kitsilano neighbourhoods, revealed it is a viable solution. The issues surrounding this case study are the value of a fair public process to ensure a common vision; the validity of the policy preserving existing transportation corridors in urban areas; and the actual effect of rail transit and greenway upon the adjacent, as well the regional environs. Future directions are toward considering transit as a vital element in promoting sustainable communities. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

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One of the major obstacles to dealing with homelessness has been the difficulty in defining the term. In the mid-1980s, the United Nations proposed a definition of homelessness which acknowledges a range of housing related needs. However, in practice the public sector generally uses a narrower meaning of the term, considering only those who are dependent on emergency shelters and those absolutely without shelter, to be “homeless”. No common definition of homelessness has gained wide acceptance in Canada. Conceptual gaps are created, as the problem of homelessness is defined differently by various sectors and levels of government. The absence of formal recognition of this complex social problem has not served to diminish its impact. An alternative concept of homelessness relates to the continuum of shelter uncertainty among the poverty population. Certain markings of vulnerability to homelessness have been identified to determine which groups are “at risk” of experiencing homelessness. This thesis contends that the broader concept of homeless may be utilized at the municipal level, to better characterise the local nature of the problem and inform responses to local housing need. A case study is presented to explore how the term “homelessness” is operationalized by the City of Vancouver. The opportunities and constraints of municipal housing planning and policy in addressing homelessness are analyzed. Service providers and government representatives were surveyed to evaluate the effectiveness of the City of Vancouver’s responses to the homeless. While the limitations on municipal action were acknowledged, respondents generally support an expanded role for the City as a more proactive facilitator and advocate. The study finds that the range and diversity of acute housing need in the Vancouver case, supports the rationale for broadening the meaning of homelessness and including at risk groups in local planning for the homeless.

In 1957, Canada's National Industrial Design Council (NIDC) organized a display for the Triennale di Milano, an international design exhibition in Milan. This exhibit focused on the development of the "new town" of Kitimat by the Aluminum Company of Canada (Alcan). Along with furnishings and photographs taken of the workers' and guests' quarters were objects that had received NIDC Design Awards. This display was one of many that represented a revitalized Canadian identity to an international audience. The Second World War had thrust Canada onto the international stage as an autonomous nation. Through its development of social, economic and cultural policies, the nation sought to extricate itself from its old world heritage and differentiate itself from its continental partner. By featuring Canada's "Aluminum City," the NIDC presented Canada as a modern nation that encouraged new industry and technology. Simultaneously, the physical location of Kitimat in the northern half of British Columbia enabled the designers to utilize a traditional element of Canadian identity—the North—in new ways. The landscape was now being civilized through the use of modern design and technology, rather than conquered by force. Finally, the juxtaposition of a photograph of a male Alcan worker, at the front of the display, with domestic objects in the display allowed for a blurring of traditional gender binaries. No longer a hard-hatted, hard-headed industrial worker; he was portrayed as a sophisticated individual working in a modern technological sphere in a civilized community. His presence signalled a rethinking of the contrasts between male and female, producer and consumer, public and private. Canada's display problematized these polarities and familiar elements of national identity through its use of domestic objects and furniture. My thesis investigates the suitability of blurring these traditional classifications in order to form a visual representation of Canadian identity in the immediate postwar period.

This thesis examines an urban form analysis method called delayering. This method examines the street network of a city. By plotting the streets in an electronic format and mapping information based on the spatial properties of streets such as those running east west, and overlaying these with other maps, delayering identifies patterns in the streets. This method was presented in a book titled The Urban Text. In the book the findings of an analysis of the City of Chicago were presented to outline the attributes of the delayering process. These include the ability to find patterns unseen in traditional analysis methods, the ability to read neighbourhood boundaries from the street patterns, and heighten awareness of elements through a unique graphic presentation method. These attributes and claims of the delayering process made it intriguing as a potential tool for the planning profession. Urban physical planning is based on a rational-comprehensive methodology where analysis is used to inform scenario development and decision making. If delayering could add to the analysis phase of planning it could become a useful tool to the profession. To identify this an assessment of the process' strengths and weaknesses had to be made. To examine this question I reviewed contemporary literature regarding the urban environment, the importance of the street, perception of place, and presentation methods. This provided the background information that supported the importance of the attributes of the delayering process. To test the strengths and weaknesses of the process a case study use of it in the City of Vancouver was conducted. This tested the transferability of the process, its accuracy, and the ease of use. Combining this information with the information of the literature review an assessment of delayering was made. The overall findings were that the process lacks single strength that would make it a useful tool. All of its attributes were somewhat successful in their claims, however the combined process was not seen as superior to traditional methods of analysis of form The unique methodology of the process, a reverse of the overlay design process, and focus of the street were seen as the overall strengths. The recommendations for the use of delayering is that it adds to the theoretical discussion of the planning profession, it can be helpful in exploratory analysis exercises, and its methodology can be adapted to other types of urban form mapping exercises.

Horseshoe Bay, British Columbia is: 1) a geographically constricted waterfront neighbourhood of the Municipality of West Vancouver, 2) a north facing deep water ocean bay with a history of marine access and activities, 3) the site of one of the busiest terminals on the British Columbia Ferry Corporation system with 2.6 million vehicles and 7 million passengers per year. The ferry corporation is planning to expand the vehicle holding lots and administration facilities in 2001 and there are public concerns about possible degradation of the character and environment of the community. The Municipality of West Vancouver has expressed a desire to rebuild the foreshore embankment of the waterfront in Horseshoe Bay Park and upgrade the various amenities. Merchants of Horseshoe Bay are concerned that changes to the pedestrian access from the ferry terminal lots may negatively affect their business. The federal government is in the midst of divesting itself of ownership and responsibility for the public wharf. These are the issues and factors that were considered in a project where several different landscape locations with different functions within the Horseshoe Bay community were the subject of a redesign program. The proposed interventions range from environmental graphics to intertidal infill and wetland construction. Each of the various proposals has a different focus, use or function but all share the common theme of landscape connectivity, linking the community to the environment in a mutually beneficial way.

This thesis examines how planners negotiate urban design by examining a case study of a development project that was planned for the waterfront of Vancouver, British Columbia in the 1990s. This project, called Portside, was to be situated on land owned by the federal government, adjacent to the downtown of the City of Vancouver but not under their jurisdiction. The literatures in urban design and negotiation theory are iteratively searched to find where there is overlap between theoretical writing on related subjects and communicative or collaborative planning. Qualitative methodologies were used in researching this subject with emphasis on interviews of representatives of those parties involved in negotiations. The questions asked in the interviews mirror the progression of ideas in the theoretical underpinnings of the paper and form the framework around which the results are organized. The statements of the interview subjects form the basis of the about what works in negotiating urban design. High quality urban design is the result of a high quality design process-one that uses effective negotiation techniques and a mixed bag of practical planning tools. The theory of communicative planning acknowledges the importance of negotiation skills and multiple approaches to overcoming obstacles such as those found in the case study. The importance of visual communication skills, team cooperation, anticipation of problem areas, and flexibility within bureaucratic frameworks for planning professionals are underlined as a result of examining this development project. It is apparent that negotiating urban design happens often in Vancouver. It is also apparent that practitioners are unclear as to how they reach agreement in areas that can be subjective and unquantifiable, only that agreement is usually reached. The literature of communicative planning supplies suggestions as to how "messy" problems, such as negotiating urban design in a multi-stakeholder context, can be successfully overcome. And the techniques put forward in the theory are apparent in practice in this case. A high-quality communicative planning process, one that made good use of best negotiative practices coupled with effective design-specific communication, led to highquality urban design for this project. These methods were applied largely unconsciously by the participants as part of a mixed bag of practical planning tools.

Canada is considered to be a multicultural country with a long history of cultural diversity. Yet in the field of landscape architecture, we have been shying away from this facet of society, perhaps due to the politically correct movement or other concerns, and focussing more on environmental issues. This thesis proposes a multicultural approach to landscape design, taking into consideration such issues as cultural diversity, federal multiculturalism, grassroots multiculturalism, narrative, history, sublimation, cultural forms, ethnicity, etc. After historical research about cultural diversity and multiculturalism in Canada and a precedent study of multicultural landscape design, these issues are implemented in the landscape design of a greenway system, specifically t he Ontario-Carrall Greenway System. The greenway has four significant nodes: Old Arrival, Multicultural Theatre, Fig Garden and New Arrival. All of these nodes incorporate multicultural, sublimated forms that unite diverse cultures, while the greenway itself interweaves physically and culturally diverse sites within a framework of multicultural landscape design.

Many regions in the US and Canada have experienced significant growth and development in recent decades. Much of this has taken the form of unrelieved urban and suburban sprawl that has used enormous amounts of land, compromised environmentally sensitive areas, provided few lasting cultural and social benefits, and delivered questionable long-term economic benefits. In response, several senior and regional governments have undertaken growth managementprograms. The general objective of growth management is to control and direct growth and development to avoid, reduce and mitigate negative impacts arising from large scale growth and development in urban areas, and promote the creation of more attractive, efficient and sustainable cities and regions. The thesis argues that the stronger the degree of senior government control - Federal, Provincial or State - over decisions by regional governments the more likely a comprehensive growth management program exists that: includes clearly defined goals; possesses institutional mechanisms to institute growth management; and, utilizes the powers of senior government to help direct and manage growth. The thesis pursues the argument through a literature review and a comparative analysis of selected growth management programs. Analysis of selected cases in British Columbia finds that the Provincial government's growth management legislation and program have been applied in its large, highly urbanized and/or rapidly growing regional districts. However, it is found that the legislation has limited or no applicability to regions experiencing slow growth or decline. A new Provincial planning model, flexible enough to address the needs of all regional districts in British Columbia, is recommended. Based on the concept of a growth and development continuum, an incremental and graduated planning model would give them the opportunity to choose appropriate planning tools, thereby providing the large, highly urbanized and/or rapidly growing regional districts and their local governments with the tools they need to manage growth and change, and slow growing regions and those in decline with the regulatory tools, financial and political support needed to encourage new growth and development. The thesis findings provide guidance to senior and regional governments in British Columbia, Canada and the US to enable them to improve their respective growth management legislation and programs.

Public space is an integral part of every downtown centre. It forms the connective tissue which binds the downtown together and allows for human exchange and activity to occur. Successful public spaces attract potential users and keep them there. They do so by satisfying the most significant of human needs. Downtown New Westminster possesses a collection of public spaces which do not function well within the urban environment. Not only are they underused but they lack identity and linkages to one another and the surrounding community. To create a successful public realm, the Downtown requires a comprehensive public space plan. The purpose of this thesis is to present the appropriate tools necessary to accomplish this task. These tools include a public space planning framework, a series of practical guiding principles, and a planning strategy. The planning framework outlines the most significant user needs and the methods with which to achieve them. The human needs addressed include community, democratic, physical, psychological, ecological, functional and economic needs. In addition, a systems/ecological planning approach and an implementation and monitoring strategy provide the basis from which the planning strategy is developed. The practical guiding principles are derived from an analysis of the public space planning practices of San Francisco, California, Portland, Oregon and Victoria, British Columbia. They focus primarily on the approach, content and presentation of public space plans which facilitate the development of a successful public realm. Specifically, the guiding principles promote the use of a holistic planning approach, the creation of specific yet flexible directives, the need to keep public space planning active in downtown centres, and the easy interpretation and implementation of public space planning initiatives. The public space planning strategy is a plan of action designed to guide the creation of a public space plan for Downtown New Westminster. Based on the planning framework, the practical guiding principles, and the review of the Downtown and its public space planning efforts, the strategy outlines each consecutive step of the process, the tasks involved, and the agencies responsible for carrying them out. The twenty steps involved range from obtaining City support to conduct a public space plan for the Downtown to the creation and implementation of the plan itself. Together, these public space planning tools - the planning framework, the guiding principles and the strategy - form the foundation of a public space plan for the Downtown neighbourhood. If these tools are implemented in the proposed manner, it is likely that a successful public realm may be achieved.