This thesis considers two questions. First, why in spite of its ideological opposition to the Land Commission Act did the Social Credit government formed in 1975 not abolish the Provincial Land Commission created by the NDP? Secondly, in what ways, if any, has the Social Credit appointed commission and the Social Credit cabinet differed from the NDP appointed commission and the NDP cabinet? After a description of the legislation, the Canada Land Inventory system and both the NDP and Social Credit appointed commissions, I argue that the complexity of issues at stake and the coalition of interests supporting the land commission, made it impossible for the government to abolish the land commission. These interests include those of farmers, who as individuals may wish to develop their land, but, collectively have a substantial interest in maintaining the reserves; developers who want, to realize the large capital gains from converting agricultural land to industrial, commercial or residential uses, but, who represent a numerically small group; municipalities, who are caught between the need for expanded tax revenues and the increased costs for services that accompanies development; and the regional districts who have to balance the competing interests of the member municipalities. A statistical analysis of the government to government exclusion requests made under section 11(1) of the provincial Agricultural Land Commission Act, indicates that the Social Credit appointed commission and the Social Credit cabinet, while maintaining the land reserve system, has allowed more exclusion requests in every category of land than had the NDP appointed commission and the NDP cabinet, and that the difference between the two was strongest for prime land, the most critical category. Further analysis suggests that this was not an accidental effect of either an increase in housing demands during the Social Credit period or of a maturation process by which the regional districts submitted more sophisticated exclusion requests and suggests the differences between the the NDP and the Social Credit are the product of different attitudes to development and planning. / Arts, Faculty of / Political Science, Department of / Graduate

This study explored the nature of barriers to the implementation of sustainable development planning on Vancouver Island as perceived by land use planners. The study provides insights into strategies that planners see as useful when faced with barriers to planning for sustainable development. Recent planning literature suggested the three categories of planning employed throughout the study: political, institutional and public. Qualitative methods were used because of their strengths for producing insights into planners' decision-making in the context of their everyday work situations. The methods were also suggested by a review of planning literature and other relevant descriptive studies recently completed in the study region. The principal method used in this exploratory and inductive study was in-depth, personal interviews in which open-ended questions were asked of twenty practicing regional and city public planners from five regional districts on Vancouver Island. Respondents noted 133 challenges. These were analyzed and synthesized into 20 categories. These categories of challenges ranged from planners lacking professional credibility with elected officials and the public to institutionalized conflicts within and between municipal and provincial government departments. Respondents noted 73 planning strategies that were found to be comprised by 16 categories. The categories of strategies ranged from increasing public trust in planning through using multiple, optimal means of public consultation, to fostering interagency coordination, and educating elected officials. Possible explanations are discussed as to why respondents identified relatively few challenges and strategies explicitly related to sustainable development planning. Concluding implications are offered for professionals and agencies involved with public planning. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

This study uses two independent surveys of the Alpine/Sub-alpine environmental zones of the Clear Range and Pavilion Mountain to explore the nature of the archaeological record in the higher elevations of the Southern Interior Plateau of British Columbia. The archaeological site information is derived from the original site records as well as a lithic analysis of associated assemblages. The archaeological material is examined in relation to ethnographic subsistence and settlement patterns, archaeological pattering in Upland Valleys (Upper Hat Creek Valley), and to other investigated Alpine/Sub-alpine areas such as the Cornwall Hills and Potato Mountain. Neither the Ethnographic nor Upland Valley Models provided a perfect fit for the archaeological information, but these two models did provide the foundation upon which the archaeological site classes could be derived. The results were clear in that the Alpine/Sub-alpine zones were an important part of the seasonal round for both hunting and plant food gathering/processing activities and were not just an extension of the Upland Valley zones. The diagnostic artifacts recovered from the Clear Range and Pavilion Mountain suggest that this area, and more specifically the Alpine/Sub-alpine environmental zones, have been used for hunting purposes for approximately 7000 years, though most of the dates are concentrated between 3500 and 200 BP. There are fewer dates for plant gathering and processing activities, but the radiocarbon dates suggest that plant processing started approximately 2000 BP. The majority of the archaeological sites for both the Clear Range and Pavilion Mountain are situated within the Montane Parkland environmental zone. Even so, the Alpine/Sub-alpine zones in the Clear Range and Pavilion Mountain were used differently. The Clear Range was used for both hunting and plant gathering/processing activities, while Pavilion Mountain and the Cornwall Hills were used primarily for hunting activities. Only on Potato Mountain were the majority of sites related to plant gathering/processing activities. / Arts, Faculty of / Anthropology, Department of / Graduate

One of the most pressing problems faced by large urban areas is traffic congestion. Traffic congestion, or the urban transportation problem is not a new phenomenon, having existed since the process of urbanization began. Low density urbanization or suburbanization, facilitated by the availability of large numbers of automobiles has contributed to the present traffic problem. The causes of the problem have long been recognized by planners and decision makers, and viable solutions have been proposed. However, in spite of solutions being known, the problem still exists and has become worse. The purpose of this study is to observe how planners have dealt with the land use and transportation factors which contribute to the ever worsening traffic problems in a suburban area. It is hypothesized that the fragmented nature of the planning and decision making processes have resulted in a lack of co-ordination and co-operation in planning to resolve the urban transportation problem. The objectives of this thesis are to gain an understanding of: 1) why the urban transportation problem exists; 2) the planning process involved in finding solutions to this problem; and 3) the effect of the fragmentation of authority over various factors of land use and transportation. The methodology includes the following steps. The first is a literature review of the current thought on the subject of traffic congestion, and the factors causing it. The second is a literature review of the planning process and the theoretical foundations of current thought on land use and transportation studies. This will be followed by a case study using a descriptive historical approach. The case study reviews developments as well as past land use and transportation studies for the study area. The fourth step involves an interpretation of the information provided in the case study in light of the literature review. The area chosen for the case study is the Greater Vancouver Regional District's North East Sector. This Sector has experienced accelerated development and an increasing 111 population dependant upon the automobile for mobility. Low density land use, has created automobile dependent development, which make an automobile a necessity. A large percentage of the workforce in the area has to commute to other areas. Numerous studies have been commissioned to find solutions to the North East Sector's transportation problems. Despite the realization of the causes of traffic congestion, the solutions presented in the studies have not been comprehensively implemented to achieve workable results. There were two major findings of this study. The first is that planners and decision makers are aware of the relationship between land use and transportation planning. The second is the fragmentation of authority for different aspects of land use and transportation has frustrated attempts to resolve traffic congestion, through a fragmenting of the planning and decision making process.

This case study provides an analysis and evaluation of a contemporary inner-city revitalization initiative, the subject case being the Victory Square planning process and subsequent draft Concept Plan released in June, 1995. The subject case is analyzed in terms of the impact of inner city "revitalization" initiatives on the low-income residents who live within districts targeted for revitalization, the fundamental question being: "Who benefits (or suffers) from revitalization efforts?" Evaluation of the subject case begins with the normative proposition that direct benefits from revitalization should accrue to the existing residents of affected low-income communities. The central research question involves identification of the key elements or characteristics of planning process and policy necessary to achieve the normatively defined outcome. These elements are employed as criteria against which the subject case is analyzed and evaluated. The thesis reviews the evolution of urban renewal/revitalization strategies in the post-war period, and parallel shifts in inner-city demographics as Vancouver continues its transition to a post-industrial economy. Gentrification trends, land use policies, and the senior government retreat from housing, are discussed in terms of their negative consequences for low-income inner-city residents.

While many communities have readily adopted "sustainability" as one of the community objectives in their planning documents, the actual application of sustainable practices has proven to be challenging for planners and communities. Some of the primary reasons for these challenges may include: • the disconnect between communities visual preferences and sustainable landscapes; • the limitations of current public consultation processes to solicit representational and meaningful input from the community due to the "shopping list" approach to developing official community plans encouraged by the Local Government Act; • the failure of conventional public consultation processes to reach certain segments of the community because of cultural differences or reluctance to publicly "speak one's mind"; and • the difficulties in the prioritization of the information from the public consultation processes into holistic planning policies. In the mean time, current research from various disciplines has established evidence to suggest incongruence between visual preferences and ecologically sustainable landscapes: preference for specific landscape typologies does not seem to be affected by the ecological performance of the landscape. The gap in ecological knowledge about sustainability may have contributed to this situation. The bridging of this gap between knowledge and preference was explored through the application of visual preferences for stormwater management in a rural context. The coastal community of Royston on Vancouver Island was used as a case study for a visual preference survey pilot project. The survey results were synthesized to identify a community aesthetic for Royston and to transform into criteria for selecting sustainable stormwater management best management practices that are appropriate to a rural community to reflect: • the community's preferred aesthetic based on the results from the visual preference survey to promote better acceptance of sustainable working landscapes; • the goals and objectives, and the policies adopted in the Royston Local Area Plan; • the economic realities of a small community; and • flexibility to address new development needs and the necessity to "retrofit" stormwater management practices into existing developments

One of the most pressing problems faced by large urban areas is traffic congestion. Traffic congestion, or the urban transportation problem is not a new phenomenon, having existed since the process of urbanization began. Low density urbanization or suburbanization, facilitated by the availability of large numbers of automobiles has contributed to the present traffic problem. The causes of the problem have long been recognized by planners and decision makers, and viable solutions have been proposed. However, in spite of solutions being known, the problem still exists and has become worse. The purpose of this study is to observe how planners have dealt with the land use and transportation factors which contribute to the ever worsening traffic problems in a suburban area. It is hypothesized that the fragmented nature of the planning and decision making processes have resulted in a lack of co-ordination and co-operation in planning to resolve the urban transportation problem. The objectives of this thesis are to gain an understanding of: 1) why the urban transportation problem exists; 2) the planning process involved in finding solutions to this problem; and 3) the effect of the fragmentation of authority over various factors of land use and transportation. The methodology includes the following steps. The first is a literature review of the current thought on the subject of traffic congestion, and the factors causing it. The second is a literature review of the planning process and the theoretical foundations of current thought on land use and transportation studies. This will be followed by a case study using a descriptive historical approach. The case study reviews developments as well as past land use and transportation studies for the study area. The fourth step involves an interpretation of the information provided in the case study in light of the literature review. The area chosen for the case study is the Greater Vancouver Regional District's North East Sector. This Sector has experienced accelerated development and an increasing 111 population dependant upon the automobile for mobility. Low density land use, has created automobile dependent development, which make an automobile a necessity. A large percentage of the workforce in the area has to commute to other areas. Numerous studies have been commissioned to find solutions to the North East Sector's transportation problems. Despite the realization of the causes of traffic congestion, the solutions presented in the studies have not been comprehensively implemented to achieve workable results. There were two major findings of this study. The first is that planners and decision makers are aware of the relationship between land use and transportation planning. The second is the fragmentation of authority for different aspects of land use and transportation has frustrated attempts to resolve traffic congestion, through a fragmenting of the planning and decision making process. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

This case study provides an analysis and evaluation of a contemporary inner-city revitalization initiative, the subject case being the Victory Square planning process and subsequent draft Concept Plan released in June, 1995. The subject case is analyzed in terms of the impact of inner city "revitalization" initiatives on the low-income residents who live within districts targeted for revitalization, the fundamental question being: "Who benefits (or suffers) from revitalization efforts?" Evaluation of the subject case begins with the normative proposition that direct benefits from revitalization should accrue to the existing residents of affected low-income communities. The central research question involves identification of the key elements or characteristics of planning process and policy necessary to achieve the normatively defined outcome. These elements are employed as criteria against which the subject case is analyzed and evaluated. The thesis reviews the evolution of urban renewal/revitalization strategies in the post-war period, and parallel shifts in inner-city demographics as Vancouver continues its transition to a post-industrial economy. Gentrification trends, land use policies, and the senior government retreat from housing, are discussed in terms of their negative consequences for low-income inner-city residents. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

While many communities have readily adopted "sustainability" as one of the community objectives in their planning documents, the actual application of sustainable practices has proven to be challenging for planners and communities. Some of the primary reasons for these challenges may include: • the disconnect between communities visual preferences and sustainable landscapes; • the limitations of current public consultation processes to solicit representational and meaningful input from the community due to the "shopping list" approach to developing official community plans encouraged by the Local Government Act; • the failure of conventional public consultation processes to reach certain segments of the community because of cultural differences or reluctance to publicly "speak one's mind"; and • the difficulties in the prioritization of the information from the public consultation processes into holistic planning policies. In the mean time, current research from various disciplines has established evidence to suggest incongruence between visual preferences and ecologically sustainable landscapes: preference for specific landscape typologies does not seem to be affected by the ecological performance of the landscape. The gap in ecological knowledge about sustainability may have contributed to this situation. The bridging of this gap between knowledge and preference was explored through the application of visual preferences for stormwater management in a rural context. The coastal community of Royston on Vancouver Island was used as a case study for a visual preference survey pilot project. The survey results were synthesized to identify a community aesthetic for Royston and to transform into criteria for selecting sustainable stormwater management best management practices that are appropriate to a rural community to reflect: • the community's preferred aesthetic based on the results from the visual preference survey to promote better acceptance of sustainable working landscapes; • the goals and objectives, and the policies adopted in the Royston Local Area Plan; • the economic realities of a small community; and • flexibility to address new development needs and the necessity to "retrofit" stormwater management practices into existing developments / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate