This study attempts an investigation of the use of urban land. It is specifically concerned with the intensity of use of manufacturing sites in Greater Vancouver. Intensity of use is represented by three measures: per cent of site unused, amount of site unused, and structural density of the site. Several variables are hypothesized to account for much variation in these intensity measures. Regression techniques are employed to build predictive models of use intensity and to assess hypotheses. Amount of land unused is predicted successfully, structural density less so, and per cent of site unused unsuccessfully. Among the "explanatory" variables, expansion plans, although often cited as such, are found to be particularly unsuccessful as a predictor of "excess" site holdings. Instead, the size of sites is found to be the most powerful predictor of the intensity measures, but lacks a logical justification as a determining or explaining variable. Somewhat originally, corporate assets is hypothesized to account for site use intensity, and is actually found to add significantly to the multiple explanation of several intensity measures. / Arts, Faculty of / Geography, Department of / Graduate

The expanding population in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, has been accompanied by a commensurate increase in the pressure of demand for land. In recent years attention has been focused on the competition for the regional land resources by agricultural and urban interests. Coincident with this conflict, public concern has been expressed over market allocation of agricultural land to urban uses. In this respect reference has often been made by the public, to the benefits of planning regional land allocation. To date no quantitative economic examination of this trend in land resource allocation has been undertaken. This thesis is an attempt to show how a mathematical technique - linear programming, - can be used to analyse and evaluate such land allocation problems. The linear programming model optimizes a system based on a conceptual framework in which the stated objective is the allocation of land to its "highest and best use". Economic, highest and best use of land is shown to exist when the activity bidding the highest price for the resource is allocated the site. Utilizing Lower Mainland Regional Planning Board land inventories and population projections, and Vancouver Real Estate Board price data, the specifications of the linear programming model were formulated such that the allocation of land uses results in the maximization of the aggregate value of the regional land base. The model was used to analyse the allocation of land in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia for four time periods: 1966-1971, 1966-1976, 1966-1981 and 1966-1986. In each case, the pattern of land use associated with the maximum aggregate land value as determined by the model, shows from an economic standpoint, the most efficient possible use of land in the whole region. The plans derived are normative in that they show the pattern of land use development which should be followed to achieve optimum land allocation. The model, apart from being normative, also appears positive in that it shows the actual present day trend of continuing urban expansion onto rural land. The positive aspects of the model were attributed to the mechanism by which the real estate market operates, and it was hypothesised that by being to some extent positive, the model could be used for predictive purposes. This specific model appears limited in its applicability on account of certain problems of specification and data availability, but the methodology is considered to be a significant advance on present land use planning concepts which lack explicit economic criteria and objectives applicable to land resource development. / Land and Food Systems, Faculty of / Graduate

Industrial land use and economic policy created by the City of Vancouver between 1968 and 1991 is analysed within a context of economic restructuring to illustrate how these types of policies may be improved. Within this time frame, the City of Vancouver had three distinct periods of policy development that were largely delineated by local political and economic factors. The first period was characterised by a liberal-based civic party in control of the local administration, a healthy urban economy, and a post-industrial sentiment that did not support the industrial community and resulted in a significant decrease in the city's supply of industrial land. In the second period, an increasingly left of centre local government was forced to contend with the poor economic conditions of the early 1980s; consequently, the industrial sector and the economy as a whole received considerable attention and support from the local government. The third period was characterised by the re-birth of post-industrialism and a right of centre administration with little interest in economic planning or maintaining an industrial sector in the City of Vancouver. The main lessons to be drawn from this policy analysis are (1) that the modern economy will continue to change rapidly and generate significant consequences and challenges for civic governments, (2) there are benefits to planning for the future rather than simply accommodating change as it happens, (3) the short sighted agendas of politicians need to be tempered by an assessment of the long term consequences of policy development and implementation, (4) there needs to be co-operation between the region's numerous public bodies to ensure complementary policy development across municipal boundaries, and (5) governments need to be proactive and engage in economic planning during both growth and recessionary economic periods in order to embrace new economic opportunities as they arise, mitigate the negative consequences that change often generates, and help produce strategic visions for planning purposes. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

The purpose of this study was to quantify the effects of land use on water quality in Ladner Slough, and in the major drainages feeding Ladner Slough. Water samples were collected monthly during the winter of 1976 up until the month of April, 1977. Samples were also collected in August 1976 and August 1977. Soil and sediment samples were collected twice throughout the sampling period in order to aid in determining the net effect of various land uses on water quality. Sampling sites were located on Ladner Slough, Cohilukthan Slough, Crescent Slough, and Deas Slough. In that context, they were located within various different land use areas, and within transition zones between land use areas. Concentrations of metals, nutrients, and major cations in water samples were determined. Analogous determinations were made on the soil and sediment samples taken. The results of numerous statistical analyses suggested that iron and total nitrogen were the water quality parameters that are most sensitive to land use in the Ladner area. Some water quality parameter magnitudes in every slough were found to exceed guideline objectives for domestic use in one or more months throughout the study period. Sloughs draining or adjoining urban zones were observed to exhibit generally the highest concentrations of metals. A site near the sanitary landfill area, on the periphery of Burns Bog, also exhibited consistently high metal concentrations. High nutrient concentrations were most often found in conjunction with agricultural land, and probably resulted from point sources. The highest concentrations of major cations were found in the slough which was closest to the Strait of Georgia. Soil and sediment data did not correlate closely with water quality data. Relatively high concentrations of lead were found in the sediment from Ladner Slough. This was thought to result from the heavy marine traffic on that slough, and could represent a potential sink for that metal. The water quality in Ladner Slough did not differ significantly from the water quality of Deas Slough. This implies that the Fraser River may flush both of the above sloughs periodically. The effects of land use on water quality in the Ladner area are discernable, and often pronounced. Moreover, some water quality problems were found to exist. This report recommends that a surface water and groundwater monitoring network be established in the area in order to provide a greater data base, and to better define specific deleterious activities. Emphasis should be placed on nutrients draining from agricultural land, and metals draining from both urban land, and the sanitary landfill area on the periphery of Burns Bog. / Land and Food Systems, Faculty of / Graduate

The Salmon River Watershed, Langley, B.C., is on the urban-rural fringe of the Greater Vancouver Regional District. A major aquifer within the Salmon River Watershed provides rural residents with drinking water and maintains stream flow during the summer. The highly mixed land use activities in the watershed, consisting of residential development, commercial agriculture and hobby farming, are resulting in non-point source nitrogen pollution of stream and groundwater. The purpose of this study was to determine how the type, intensity and changes in land use activities have affected water quality. Indicators such as nitrate-N, ammonia-N, orthophosphate, and faecal coliforms and streptococci were used to characterize water quality. Animal unit and septic system densities and nitrogen loading were used as land use indicators. Land use/water quality relationships were analyzed with a Geographic Information System (GIS). The Salmon River and its tributaries are relatively healthy. Most of the water quality indicators met the appropriate criteria for drinking water and aquatic life. Nitrate-N concentrations and microbial counts, however, have been and continue to be a concern. While nitrate-N was below the maximum drinking water quality criterion of 10 mg-N L'1 at all stations there are localized areas where nitrate-N concentrations are above background and reaching levels of concern (5 mg-N L"1). The highest nitrate-N concentrations were measured during low-flow conditions. This suggests that the nitrogen-polluted groundwater is affecting the stream during the summer. In contrast, faecal coliforms and streptocci counts were higher during high-flow conditions suggesting runoff from agricultural fields on which manure is spread in the late fall. More than 3,200 septic systems have been installed in the Salmon River Watershed between 1930 and 1994, a large number of which are located on the Hopington Aquifer. The pattern of increasing septic system densities closely matched the increase in streamwater nitrate-N from up to downstream in both the Salmon River mainstem and Coghlan Creek upstream of their confluence. Agricultural activities are concentrated on large commercial operations. However, hobby farms are becoming a more important component of the agricultural sector in the urban-rural fringe environment. There has been an overall decrease in animal numbers, mostly due to fewer cattle, poultry and pigs between 1986 and 1991. In contrast, horses and sheep, often associated with small farms, increased in number over the same time period. Animal unit densities increased from up to downstream in the Salmon River mainstem to its confluence with Coghlan Creek as does the streamwater nitrate-N concentration. In the Coghlan, however, animal unit densities did not vary, yet the nitrate-N values in this section of the stream increased the most. These results suggest that residential and agricultural uses are both sources of nitrogen in the Salmon mainstem, while septic systems are the primary source in Coghlan Creek. A nitrogen mass balance was used to quantify the sources (manure, fertilizers, the atmosphere and septic systems) and sinks (crop uptake, management losses, dentrification) of nitrogen in the watershed in order to determine the amount of surplus nitrogen being applied. The contribution of septic systems accounted for about 20 % of the surplus loading in the watershed, while large farms contributed about 68 % and small farms 12 % of the surplus loading. There is a poor linear relationship between high nitrate-N values in the stream and corresponding spatial inputs of nitrogen from manure, fertilizers and septic systems. This is due to the highly variable surficial geology, the complexity of groundwater hydrology and the spatial lag between areas of high nitrogen surplus applications and water quality sampling stations. The area near the Salmon River-Coghlan Creek confluence is the most affected section of streams in the watershed and should be used as the key site to monitor environmental quality in the watershed.

This research investigated human induced land use patterns, land cover change and hydrologic response in mountain watersheds. The hypothesis was that the spatial pattern of land use patches in a watershed influences runoff generating mechanisms, and thus affects peak flows and stream ecosystems. The goal was to increase the understanding of the influence of landscape pattern on environmental process, and thus provide a scientific basis for the design of urban development that maintains the structure and function of biological communities along a stream system. The study was a first attempt to apply the methods of landscape pattern analysis from landscape ecology to hydrology and stream response. Previous analyses in hydrology have not explicitly considered the spatial arrangement of land use/cover patterns in the watershed. Although statistical relationships between landscape pattern and stream discharge were not achieved because of limitations of the hydrological modelling, this study laid the groundwork for the realization of this goal. The geographic information system (GIS) software Maplnfo, and a hydrologic model based on the Rational Method, were used to investigate the relationships between land use patterns and their effect on the hydrology of four steep mountain stream systems in the Greater Vancouver region of British Columbia. Accepted land use/ cover categories and landscape metrics were used to quantify and characterise landscape change, across time (1946-1995) and between watersheds. Composite runoff coefficients ( Q were calculated for each land use, and a five-year peak stream discharge (Q) that took the changing landscape into consideration was modelled. Stream pattern, total impervious surface (TLA), and road networks were assessed as part of the description of the landscape. This thesis considered relationships between: discharge and percent land use area; discharge and total imperviouss area; discharge and landscape pattern; and percent land use area and landscape pattern. It was found that calculated discharge, percent impervious, and developed area increased across all watersheds across all time periods. The number of road crossings on the creek mainstem and total road length in the watersheds increased with percentage of developed area in the watersheds, and there was a linear relationship between C coefficient and the length of roads in the watershed. Development emerged in discrete patches, generally in the more accessible and flatter regions of the basin. Patch shape metrics followed an increasing trend with development levels between zero and twenty percent. However, between twenty and fifty percent developed the metrics scattered and did not have an apparent trend. This was likely due to a shift in the landscape matrix from forest cover to development. Increased development was associated with fragmentation of the landscape because more land use/cover categories were present in the watershed. This created a situation where average patch size decreased, patch diversity and density increased, and the watersheds had a fragmented appearance. Developed patches generally had a more complex shape than forest patches. The likelihood of finding a forest patch adjacent to a developed patch decreased as development increased.

A major contributor to global warming is the increasing amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Land use management may be a means to countering global warming by increasing the carbon sink potential. Terrestrial carbon budgets were prepared for forested (Douglas-fir), agricultural (hay), and urban sites in Abbotsford, B.C. The results indicate that the greatest amount of carbon is stored in the forested sites, followed by the hay sites, with the lowest amount in the urban sites. To maximize carbon in storage the use of trees either as forests or in pockets within the landscape is the best option. To simulate and to expand the utility of these carbon budgets, the study used the CENTURY model. The results of the simulations indicate that forests are a major carbon sink as was found earlier. Carbon storage under hay is at a relative steady state, except during the cultivation years when it becomes a carbon source. Lawn in an urban setting is a carbon source. The results of the simulations suggest that management can be used to increase the carbon sink. It also indicates that soils are a major carbon pool representing 20% of the forest, 90% of the hay, and 95% of the lawn budgets. For the general public and decision-makers to become more aware of the impact of changing land use on carbon storage, at the lot, local, or regional levels, they require a userfriendly decision-making tool. A derivative of the CENTURY model, CLU (for CENTURY Land Use), was developed. It was designed to be user-friendly and at the same time maintain the integrity of the parent model. It allows the user to input site-specific data and obtain site related output carbon data on a component basis, which can be used to assess how a potential change in land use or management may affect the amount of carbon in storage. The model should be suitable as a research tool and for planning and educational purposes.

This thesis examines the possibility of retaining, redesigning, and integrating existing farm and forestlands within the proposed South Campus community development at the University of British Columbia (UBC). The central tenant of my thesis is, given the importance of agriculture in the development of human culture and the UBC Point Grey Campus, and the vital role it will play in the 21st Century, agricultural lands and facilities should be conserved and given a place of importance within the UBC landscape. An explanation is provided on how such an integrative proposal for these lands, collectively known as the UBC South Campus Farm, would support the economic, ecological, and social interests and expectations of the University, and the Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD), while providing an exciting learning and living environment for students, faculty staff and community members. An alternative proposal for the South Campus Farm and the South Campus community is provided that supports the stated interests of the University and the GVRD. This is accomplished through a careful assessment of the cultural and biophysical features of the South Campus lands and the subsequent development and application of a regenerative design process applied within a fourfold framework based on the concepts of ecology, economy, integrity and beauty. The final design proposal is compared and evaluated against the current situation and the University development plans.

Richmond, also known as Lulu Island, was carved out from the passage of the Fraser River to the Pacific Ocean. The River and its rich delta soils have bestowed a strong fishing and agricultural industry upon Richmond. This thesis examines an area of Richmond that is located along the shores of the Fraser River where the North Arm splits into the Middle Arm. This area, specifically the Bridgeport sub-area and the Van Home Industrial Park, is a predominantly light industrial neighbourhood located along the northwest shores of Richmond. This particular site has gradually undergone redevelopment over the past ten years as commercial land uses have begun to take the place of residential and agricultural land uses. These new land uses, in many instances, are not complementary to one another and the area moves towards becoming dominated by big box commercial and tourism-based commercial. Residential land use is being replaced by these new land uses due to the noise generated from the flight path for the north runway of the Vancouver International Airport which passes directly over this neighbourhood. This thesis explores three revitalization schemes that would allow for the redevelopment of this area to proceed in such a way that creates an opportunity for a strong neighbourhood identity. One that recognizes the demands and diverse nature of the area while establishing a variety of land uses that are able to coexist and take advantage of the site's physical and experiential attributes and its strategic location within the city and region.

The Salmon River Watershed, Langley, B.C., is on the urban-rural fringe of the Greater Vancouver Regional District. A major aquifer within the Salmon River Watershed provides rural residents with drinking water and maintains stream flow during the summer. The highly mixed land use activities in the watershed, consisting of residential development, commercial agriculture and hobby farming, are resulting in non-point source nitrogen pollution of stream and groundwater. The purpose of this study was to determine how the type, intensity and changes in land use activities have affected water quality. Indicators such as nitrate-N, ammonia-N, orthophosphate, and faecal coliforms and streptococci were used to characterize water quality. Animal unit and septic system densities and nitrogen loading were used as land use indicators. Land use/water quality relationships were analyzed with a Geographic Information System (GIS). The Salmon River and its tributaries are relatively healthy. Most of the water quality indicators met the appropriate criteria for drinking water and aquatic life. Nitrate-N concentrations and microbial counts, however, have been and continue to be a concern. While nitrate-N was below the maximum drinking water quality criterion of 10 mg-N L'1 at all stations there are localized areas where nitrate-N concentrations are above background and reaching levels of concern (5 mg-N L"1). The highest nitrate-N concentrations were measured during low-flow conditions. This suggests that the nitrogen-polluted groundwater is affecting the stream during the summer. In contrast, faecal coliforms and streptocci counts were higher during high-flow conditions suggesting runoff from agricultural fields on which manure is spread in the late fall. More than 3,200 septic systems have been installed in the Salmon River Watershed between 1930 and 1994, a large number of which are located on the Hopington Aquifer. The pattern of increasing septic system densities closely matched the increase in streamwater nitrate-N from up to downstream in both the Salmon River mainstem and Coghlan Creek upstream of their confluence. Agricultural activities are concentrated on large commercial operations. However, hobby farms are becoming a more important component of the agricultural sector in the urban-rural fringe environment. There has been an overall decrease in animal numbers, mostly due to fewer cattle, poultry and pigs between 1986 and 1991. In contrast, horses and sheep, often associated with small farms, increased in number over the same time period. Animal unit densities increased from up to downstream in the Salmon River mainstem to its confluence with Coghlan Creek as does the streamwater nitrate-N concentration. In the Coghlan, however, animal unit densities did not vary, yet the nitrate-N values in this section of the stream increased the most. These results suggest that residential and agricultural uses are both sources of nitrogen in the Salmon mainstem, while septic systems are the primary source in Coghlan Creek. A nitrogen mass balance was used to quantify the sources (manure, fertilizers, the atmosphere and septic systems) and sinks (crop uptake, management losses, dentrification) of nitrogen in the watershed in order to determine the amount of surplus nitrogen being applied. The contribution of septic systems accounted for about 20 % of the surplus loading in the watershed, while large farms contributed about 68 % and small farms 12 % of the surplus loading. There is a poor linear relationship between high nitrate-N values in the stream and corresponding spatial inputs of nitrogen from manure, fertilizers and septic systems. This is due to the highly variable surficial geology, the complexity of groundwater hydrology and the spatial lag between areas of high nitrogen surplus applications and water quality sampling stations. The area near the Salmon River-Coghlan Creek confluence is the most affected section of streams in the watershed and should be used as the key site to monitor environmental quality in the watershed. / Science, Faculty of / Resources, Environment and Sustainability (IRES), Institute for / Graduate