The political context of citizen participation in North American governments since World War II has largely been one of failure of non-elites to influence governments at all levels to accommodate their values and interests. Among concepts of government designed to facilitate the political efficacy cf such groups is that of decentralization of some powers of municipal government to the "neighborhood" or local area level in large cities. Municipal decentralization theory rests on assumptions that common interests can be identified with a definable local area and that political processes at that level reflect local political values and interests. The general hypothesis was that political processes in local areas reflect the diversity of political values and interests of the local area population and thus have the potential to legitimize decision-making at that level. Review of literature on democratic theory led to a postulate that a political process which reflects a constituency's values and interests is pluralistic and is perceived to be legitimate by political actors. It was also postulated that lines of political cleavage in the urban land development control issue area, the issue area chosen for this research, would follow social class lines. Working hypotheses were constructed based on the above two postulates and a definition of "legitimacy" of government. The general hypothesis was sustained by a limited comparative study of local area political processes in the Kitsilano and Grandview-Woodlands local areas of Vancouver, by study of one politically salient site-specific land development control issue in each. A combination of decisional and reputational techniques was used to identify influential political actors at the local area level and to identify key events. A qualification was observed in political actors' perception of legitimacy of a hypothetical local area government with some powers in land development control: the electoral process was perceived by most tc be an inadequate instrument of citizen control of government at that level. It was concluded that further research was warranted in means of facilitating political integration at the local area level, as existing community councils did not perform that function in the issues studied. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

The Grandview Woodland local area of Vancouver, British Columbia, is an area in transition. Retail, demographic, residential occupancy, and changes to built structures indicate that gentrification has escalated in the past seven years. Long standing impediments to gentrification, including industrial manufacturing, social housing, and crime, are not deterring change in this area to the extent they once did. This thesis examines how public policy has affected these changes in Grandview Woodland. Public policies embodied in laws and regulations have the capacity to either encourage or dissuade gentrification; however, other variables also influence gentrification making it difficult to determine the importance and influence of public policy in the process. This thesis uses semi-structured interviews and a document review in a case study of Grandview Woodland, to gain a better understanding of how public policies can influence gentrification in a local area where gentrification was previously impeded. The findings from this study suggest that public policies can have a substantial, but not autonomous, effect on gentrification in such an area. In Grandview Woodland, policy makers facilitate gentrification through city-wide and province-wide policies, including zoning changes, the Strata Title Act, and the Residential Tenancy Act. While these public policies have streamlined the advance of gentrification in Grandview Woodland, the catalysts for gentrification are the wider national trend of increased popularity of inner-city living, and the middle class moving eastwards in search of affordable homes in response to the massive property value increases in Vancouver’s West Side. / Graduate / 0617 / 0615 / 0999 / p.b.kasman@gmail.com