It is estimated that the population of the City of Nanaimo will almost double in the next 25 years. In
the past, Nanaimo's urban growth has been absorbed using a typical pattern of development - stripmalls,
supported by ever-expanding low-density suburban sprawl. This development seems to have
occurred with little or no forethought to its environmental or social consequences. Urban sprawl is
consuming our land and endangering the natural ecosystems in our region.
In response to the ecological and social problems of urban sprawl the City of Nanaimo, in coordination
with the Regional District of Nanaimo, has developed a Growth Management Plan. The
Plan focuses on creating compact communities within the city boundary, thereby alleviating sprawl
and mamtaining the ecological integrity of the hinterlands. We must now seek ways of designing
neighbourhoods that not only accommodate our growing population but also enhance both the human
and environmental "functioning" of the site.
This project examines a sustainable growth strategy for one of Nanaimo's designated urban growth
areas. The Southgate Town Centre Concept Plan is the product of an integrated planning process and
is based on principles of sustainable and complete communities. The Plan addresses the basic
functional elements of a community (habitat and watershed integrity, pedestrian and traffic
circulation, and residential and commercial development) and explores how the application of
sustainability principles can result in a functional community.
The result is a comprehensive design of an urban growth area that has accommodated density while
also improving the ecological, social and experiential fimctioning of the site. The design addresses the
relationship of the site to its watershed context and its surrounding community. As a comprehensive
document it also serves as a model for similar urban development areas.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:BVAU.2429/11724 |
| Date | 11 1900 |
| Creators | Gardam, Elaine Ruth |
| 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/] |
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