The north shore of the North Arm of the Fraser River represents the Southern boundary
of the City of Vancouver. This boundary has been crucial to the development of
Vancouver as a city that strives on natural resource processing and shipping. This
industrial heritage along the North Fraser has provided Vancouver with a substantial
portion of its revenue and tax base since the 1800's, but is currently under threat by
land developers and residential pressures. With this development pressure comes the
increased lure of immediate revenue, increased public use of the waterfront, and an
increase in market housing within the city limits. However, this pressure will also result
in a loss of economic sustainability and long-term revenue dollars. This is a trend that is
occurring throughout the lower mainland, encouraging a commuter environment and a
dissociation between place of work and place of residence.
This thesis seeks to combat this issue and will illustrate that it is not only desirable, but
necessary to sustain urban resource-based industry along the North Fraser. Through
the implementation of a Greenway design, the thesis will prove that the portion of the
North Fraser that lies between the Knight Street Bridge and the Oak Street Bridge can
retain its industrial character, while becoming more inclusive of the cultural/social needs
of a growing population and recognizing environmental concerns. The implementation
of a public recreational Greenway will enhance the quality of the area, thereby drawing
users both within and beyond the surrounding community to take advantage of a great
resource that is often forgotten or hidden by intensive industrial frontage. At the same
time, the Greenway will provide opportunities for education and awareness that will
highlight the values and benefits of an industrial infrastructure along the North Fraser.
Finally, the thesis will prove that such an endeavour is not only sustainable in a cultural
and economic sense, but that a Greenway has the capacity to provide a rehabilitated
ecological condition that will sustain a valuable and fragile ecosystem.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:BVAU.2429/10450 |
| Date | 05 1900 |
| Creators | Mikkelsen, Dale R. |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Relation | UBC Retrospective Theses Digitization Project [http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/retro_theses/] |
Page generated in 0.0065 seconds