The exploitation of natural resources in British Columbia has been strongly influenced by man's attitudes towards his environment. These attitudes have evolved from the cultural and historical legacy of Europe as well as from certain unique North American characteristics. As an ultimately irreplacable resource, wilderness serves as an interesting example of man's relationship to his environment. However, this relationship is difficult to document, requiring consideration of such diverse aspects as the cultural and historical sources of wilderness attitudes; the various values placed on wilderness; the treatment of wilderness as reflected in parks policy; and an approximate knowledge of the existing distribution of wilderness in British Columbia. Attempts to integrate these can at best only provide a personal view of the overall situation, but this seems useful if there is to be progress towards the understanding of man's relationship to his environment. The North American's perception and treatment of wilderness have been significantly affected by human history generally and North American myths specifically. Only in the last seventy to eighty years has it been possible for North Americans to regard wilderness without a great deal of fear and disdain. Up until this time the wilderness was an area of the unknown where man ventured in fear of his physical and spiritual safety. With the advent of an increasingly technocratic society, wilderness has come to serve as a significantly important symbol for a growing number of people. Wilderness stands as a symbol of man's origins and of his initial role as a member of the earth community. It symbolizes a collection of goals, ideals, and values that man may pursue as alternatives to pure material achievement. Also, because it is ultimately an irreplacable resource, wilderness preservation represents the preservation of individual freedoms and the number of alternatives available to future generations. The predominantly negative attitudes towards wilderness have facilitated and encouraged its hastened removal from the North American scene. Certainly British Columbia presently possesses vast amounts of wilderness. However, given the relatively short period of time since the date of its original European settlement, the rate of wilderness depletion must be regarded as significant. In examining wilderness losses over five time periods ranging from 1923 to 1970 it was found that the greatest alienations occurred following WW II, notably on Vancouver Island and in the mainland area south of 54°. While the rates of wilderness loss in these two regions have slowed somewhat, the mainland area north of 54° is currently experiencing wilderness loss at an accelerating rate. In 1970 less than 40% of the mainland area south of 54° could be classified as wilderness. This same figure for Vancouver Island was discovered to be less than six percent. Study of the mainland area north of 54° indicated that 84% of this area was wilderness, although this figure was based on insufficient data. In light of this wilderness view for British Columbia, eight specific recommendations on preservation policies at both the Federal and Provincial levels of Government can be outlined: clarification of purposes and objectives, greater cooperation between governments, implementation of a public education program, preservation of future alternatives, a greater emphasis on long-term considerations, and a broader basis for policy decisions. / Arts, Faculty of / Geography, Department of / Graduate

Postmodern metropolitan regions have become marked by the process of office suburbanization. Greater Vancouver has not been immune to this. Despite regional planning policy, suburban offices have located on industrial land in isolated, autodependent business parks. The amount of office space in business parks far surpasses office space in the designated regional town centres. This thesis examines whether business park development is consistent with the goals set out in Greater Vancouver's Livable Region Strategic Plan; whether business parks are in tune with the principles of sustainability; and whether business parks are fulfilling municipal tax and employment objectives. To answer these questions, an evaluative framework of eight criteria is established. Analysis of quantitative and qualitative data demonstrates that business parks are not consistent with these goals and objectives. The land consumed, the travel patterns produced, and the taxes generated by business parks reveal a land use pattern that is far less efficient than urban centre locations. Concentrating office development in existing urban and suburban centres complements the retail, residential, community services, and transit infrastructure in centres and enables employees to work in places where they can live, shop, and play nearby. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

As the political, economic and cultural fabric of all regions of the British Columbia landscape grows more sophisticated, legislative remedies to environmental issues will become more difficult to execute. If our society's values towards resources are to change, the resource protection field may need to evolve from legislated protection to cultural protection based on appreciation and peer pressure. In this regard, natural park sites have the potential to influence the values which will be carried beyond that particular site. Protective attitudes towards the environment often grow out of a feeling of connection to, and an understanding of, particular places. The act of conferring park status on a natural place acknowledges that we consider it to be special and hence worthy of protection. The way in which this environment is planned, designed and managed has the potential to demonstrate environmental protection values while educating people about the natural world and our impact upon it. Retaining the true "spirit of place" in a natural area park is a worthy goal but often difficult to achieve. In British Columbia's Provincial Park System, a dual mandate to provide for recreational pursuits while protecting the environment creates problems for staff who must fulfill what is often a conflicting prescription. A detailed policy framework for facilities, based on explicitly examined values, would provide direction for decision making about park facilities. This thesis looks at the topic of retaining a "sense of place" in natural area parks, examines the issue of values and tradeoffs in park management, and offers a planning framework to operationalize the B.C. Parks mandate to protect and present provincial parks.

As the political, economic and cultural fabric of all regions of the British Columbia landscape grows more sophisticated, legislative remedies to environmental issues will become more difficult to execute. If our society's values towards resources are to change, the resource protection field may need to evolve from legislated protection to cultural protection based on appreciation and peer pressure. In this regard, natural park sites have the potential to influence the values which will be carried beyond that particular site. Protective attitudes towards the environment often grow out of a feeling of connection to, and an understanding of, particular places. The act of conferring park status on a natural place acknowledges that we consider it to be special and hence worthy of protection. The way in which this environment is planned, designed and managed has the potential to demonstrate environmental protection values while educating people about the natural world and our impact upon it. Retaining the true "spirit of place" in a natural area park is a worthy goal but often difficult to achieve. In British Columbia's Provincial Park System, a dual mandate to provide for recreational pursuits while protecting the environment creates problems for staff who must fulfill what is often a conflicting prescription. A detailed policy framework for facilities, based on explicitly examined values, would provide direction for decision making about park facilities. This thesis looks at the topic of retaining a "sense of place" in natural area parks, examines the issue of values and tradeoffs in park management, and offers a planning framework to operationalize the B.C. Parks mandate to protect and present provincial parks. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

The purpose of this thesis is to evaluate alternative processes for resolving conflicts between mineral development, and park preservation interests in British Columbia. The peculiarities and variation within the generic conflict illustrate the divergence between two main interest groups, and the representative provincial resource agencies. A brief examination of eight cases demonstrates the conflict is manifest with different intensities, over a wide time range, and with geographic variety. By comparing the supposed weakness of the litigation model and the claimed advantages of the bargaining model for processing of conflict to resolution, five criteria for efficiency are developed: time and delay; cost; capacity for technical issues; opportunity for participation; and flexibility of outcomes. Examples of conflict dialogue illustrate cognitive, value, interest and behavioral conflict in the parks / mines situation with the aim that the reader and the researcher can have a communality of experience and tools for understanding in assessing the detailed case evidence. Detailed examination of the Wells Gray Provincial Park case and Chilko Lake Wilderness Park Proposal illustrate strong British Columbia examples of both litigation and bargaining models under the same time and political circumstance. Not all of the allegations of strength or weakness are substantiated in either case. The promise demonstrated in the unstructured version of bargaining found in the Chilko example may be improved through innovation and commitment. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

The mobile home is one response to the problems associated with the issue of housing affordability. For many individuals mobile home living in a park environment is a viable and attractive alternative to conventional housing. Older mobile home parks, the focus of this thesis, are an integral part of the wider system of mobile home environments. The older parks existing today have been subject to many changing conditions, the scale, rate and nature of which have been felt by all those associated with parks and park living. The role of older parks is unclear and a situation exists which poses problems for some people and is of no concern to others. Older parks are criticized as being, among other things, unsightly, ill-designed, poorly located and the source of a variety of other problems. At least two recent studies indicate that something should be done to improve conditions in existing parks. To begin this task it has been necessary to identify the conditions and problems and suggest a means to remedy the situation. This study of older parks is designed to be used as a framework for developing a public policy regarding the place of older mobile home parks within the metropolitan environment of Greater Vancouver. Moreover, it is hoped that the study will provide an example for smaller communities in this province in how to deal with mobile home parks. The research process has involved a detailed study of the nature of the mobile home and mobile home park in terms of general historical perspective and the particular Canadian experience. A discussion of the state of the mobile home industry in Canada and background to the slowdown experienced since 1974 serve to indicate the close ties between mobile home and mobile home park. Following a review of the constraints and regulations in the system of providing for mobile home parks, and variety of types and functions of these parks, the process and economics of park development are described briefly. The extensive literature review portion of this thesis is justified in terms of its non-existence in a Canadian academic format and the necessity for a more complete perspective of the analytical study. Empirical research for the thesis involved the compilation and analysis of existing physical, operational and management characteristics of thirty older mobile home parks in Langley, Surrey, Coquitlam and Maple Ridge. Data was obtained by first hand investigation of conditions in these parks and interviews with many parties concerned about the provision for mobile home parks. The interviews included some core questions but were largely unstructured due to the nature of the investigation. Collection of this data was made possible through a summer position in 19 78 with the former B.C. Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing. Motivation for research into this topic was based on the hypothesis that older parks are subject to criticism from a stereotyped point of view and often unsubstantiated claims of problems and inadequacies. The study does identify certain problems associated with some older parks, including poor design and location, park redevelopment and combined commercial-residential operations. Other problems however, can be associated with some parks of any age, and these include park entrance fees, regulations, rent control, the landlord-tenant relationship, poor design and the significant shortage of mobile home park spaces. The research has clearly indicated that there is no such entity as a typical older mobile home park. Thus, the recommendations put forth are meant to account for the extent of variety among parks and to guide policy decisionmaking. The most significant conclusions of this thesis are: 1. The evaluation of park quality is, like so many qualitative judgements in life, a function of personal and societal values and biases. What is adequate and functional shelter to one person may be substandard and offensive to another. 2. Some of the readily apparent problems with older parks can be construed more as institutional in nature rather than as defects that can be corrected by camouflaging o by moving them. 3. Older parks are victims of changing times, escalating land values and urban pressure on the land. It may be that the market will ultimately determine local government planning objectives with respect to mobile parks. This however, will be an evolutionary process, with parks of various forms and vintages remaining for many years to come. 4. The mobile home park is a unique form of land and dwelling tenure. As such, the relationship between landlord and tenant requires close and judicious scrutiny. 5. Official attitudes toward mobile home parks are only slowly changing. It is critical that local governments become more responsive to the issues at hand if the pressures on the existing park system are to be reduced The strategies that can be developed to manage the problems must clearly identify the objectives in mind and for whom the problems are the objects of concern. This thesis will outline the concerns that must be examined in order to promote a comprehensive planning approach toward the future of older mobile parks in the lower mainland. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

At the same time resources are becoming more scarce there is an increase in the use of parks, wilderness and other natural environments for recreational purposes. This is evident in British Columbia where much of provincial parks planning is concerned with the accommodation of an ever increasing diversity of outdoor recreation activities. For a variety of reasons the people engaged in those activities do not always get along therefore resolving these social conflicts is becoming an ever larger part of recreation resource planners’ and managers’ jobs. The problem with conflict management in outdoor recreation is that the methods which are commonly used do not address the sources of conflict. Even though it is the recreationists who are experiencing conflict the focus remains on managing the resource. The traditional conflict management prescription is to separate activities that are considered to be incompatible. This action is necessary in some cases but it can often exacerbate the conflict. Since the reasons for conflict are largely sociological and psychological it is necessary that the groups in conflict get together to find a solution. Conflict management methods based on the spatial separation of activities that do not include this step will not be as effective as those that do. This thesis establishes a number of weaknesses in activity based conflict prevention by examining both the sources of conflict in outdoor recreation and the methods of conflict management which are traditionally used. These weaknesses are then considered in a two part examination. First, the conflict management policies of BC Parks are examined. Second, a closer look is taken at a specific conflict issue: the Garibaldi Master Plan and its treatment of the issue of mountain biking in the park. In general, without a formal conflict management policy in place users of BC’S provincial parks who find themselves in conflict with other users can not be assured that the sources of conflict will be addressed. In the Garibaldi Park case study, BC Parks focused on managing the resource rather than managing the social conflict that was occurring. They took steps in the right direction but failed to take the most crucial step which is getting the parties in conflict talking to each other. Even though the sources of conflict are recognized they are not the prime consideration in resolving the conflict.

In order to deal with on-going environmental pressures and uncertainty, organizations have established linkages with other organizations as one strategy to deal with these new challenges (Fenell, Ross & Warnecke, 1987; Oliver, 1990; 1991; Thibault, Frisby & Kikulis, 1997). The establishment of partnerships is viewed by organizations as a new way of operating to control and minimize environmental pressures. The purpose of this study was to identify and understand issues of interorganizational relations between local governments, specifically departments of Parks and Recreation and community organizations providing recreation and sport services. Specifically, reasons for being involved in partnerships as well as advantages and challenges of partnerships were investigated as part of this research. The City of Surrey was selected as the research site for this study on the analysis of interorganizational relationships between its Parks and Recreation department and three community organizations providing recreation services and programs: Surrey Knights Swim Club, Surrey Youth Soccer Association, and Surrey Minor Hockey Association. The City of Surrey was chosen given its large territory, its population growth, its decreasing funds for recreation services, and its limited number of recreation facilities. Through semi-structured interviews with key informants, issues on interorganizational relations were discussed. The main reasons for involvement were described as access to financial and facility resources. With the economic pressures that local governments are facing, the establishment of partnerships represents an appealing option to meet these challenges. Furthermore, the Surrey Parks and Recreation department is linking with community organizations in order to gain credibility within the community. By establishing working partnerships with one another, community organizations and Surrey Parks and Recreation department are able to provide the same level of services to the community, consequently leading to the welfare of the community. The final topic that was discussed during this research was the levels of intensity of the partnerships and its relation to loss of autonomy. Using Oliver's (1990) model, it was found that all levels of intensity were evident at one point or another in the partnerships and that these levels varied according to the environmental context. However, the loss of autonomy, as described by Oliver (1990) did not appear to be a factor influencing the partnerships. This might be due to the fact that all partners were involved in these partnerships for the same goals and purposes and not to compete against each other. Interorganizational relationships were an intricate and important dimension of the organizations studied. It is essential for organizations to better understand issues surrounding partnerships in order to effectively engage in linkages that are beneficial to all partners involved in this process and to the public.

The practice of providing urban parks as an integral part of community development no longer creates public debate about the function or legal authority of local governments to make such purchases. However, the debate continues on the ethics of local government's parkland acquisition practices. These practices have the capability and motivation to influence the land value of sites they wish to acquire. Local governments are responsible for determining land use, which in turn affects land value. The limited financial means of local government to acquire parks makes influencing land value one way of stretching the scarce resources of the community. The ethics practiced in the negotiations to acquire urban parkland where the land has development potential are unique because: 1. Parkland is a public good and not a market commodity; 2. The potential for other higher land uses exists; and 3. Local government plays a dual role: one of a regulator and approving authority for determining land use and providing community stewardship, and the other as the corporate cost controlling agency seeking to acquire land. These qualities create the strong possibility for ethical conflict to occur in the negotiating process. Building upon the Interest-Based approach to negotiations, this paper uses a set of Prescriptive, Intuitive and Evaluative (P.I.E.) criteria that define ethical conduct, and the dimensions of Fact, Social Consensus and Experience that defines the dimensions of interests, to develop a General Model for Ethical Negotiations (GMEN). Conceptually, the GMEN model is a three-sided pyramid within a sphere of negotiations. Negotiations that adhere to the principles defining the parameters of the pyramid would be considered ethical. Negotiations outside the pyramid are considered unethical. Six parkland acquisition cases are discussed using the GMEN model. In this study, the parameters establishing the criteria for passing ethical judgment are the functions of the political economy, the policy statements of the local government, and the legislation that delegates power and authority to local government. The study finds that ethical conflict is inherent in parkland negotiations where the land has development potential because of the multiple roles and dual character of local government. This conflict is not necessarily illegal since prescriptive criteria are only one means of judging ethics. Nor is the outcome necessarily negative to the vendor, since the public may end up with a less attractive park agreement. However, the parameters that would require parkland acquisition negotiations to be ethical sometimes conflict with some of the multiple roles held by local government. Several recommendations are made that would help to reduce ethical conflict and the imbalance in parkland negotiations.

The thesis project reconstructs the relations between conflicting social groups through the exchange of goods and ideas in Portside Park. The project also explores how the evolution of an infrastructure is capable of criticizing the original conditions of its construction. This is completed through the design of a series of possible future events such as a pedestrian overpass, and public market in Portside Park on Vancouver's central waterfront. Robert Thayer Jr. and Bill Morrish were influential in exploring how we understand the landscape and the importance of visual ecology which expresses an ecology behind a site. A collective identity can be influenced by such ideas, and if given a place of importance, can also act as forums, adding more than just physical boundaries to the city. The project is sighted on the waterfront, a landscape that currently lies dormant and in a state of transition. The requirements for site selection were that the site must have the potential for an evolution of its own with hidden or unused elements that may be renewed and adapted to enrich the expression of the site. The starting point for the project was to speculate on a series of future events that respond to possible social and political forces affecting the site. The matrix was a method of determining the potential of the site. The moment that is detailed, for the purposes of this project, is the year 2020. At this time, the coil, a pedestrian overpass, responds to the permanence of the city through its 'building as wall' vocabulary. The wall is then transformed into a connection from the city to the park. The market shields the rail and opens up to the park. Here the boundary between the connector and enclosure has been inverted and the visitor is inserted into the market building. The visitor is released into the park in the company of others within a defined realm, shielded by a canopy of trees. The final place for quiet contemplation is the beach which remains open and exposed - the most valued and protected part of the park. Valued not for is aesthetic achievements but for its political and social meaning. The pedestrian embarks on a journey. Leaving the dense built environment of the city, the pedestrian ascends the public walkway over the tracks and gradually enters the transition of the bosk, where the mounds and trees enclose the body yet prepare him for the open water. In conclusion the project attempts to accommodate a place for the individual and the collective, it defines a place for establishing a coexistence.