This thesis places the growth management, specifically the urban growth boundary,
policies of the Greater Vancouver Regional District and the Province of British Columbia in
comparative perspective. The operative problem statement for this study is that current efforts at
managing urban growth in the Lower Mainland are ambitious, but that they need to be made more
robust. The specific methodologies used to address this problem statement include: a detailed
review of the literature on urban growth boundaries and on growth management; a review of
growth management policies relevant to containing urban growth in the Lower Mainland; and a
detailed examination of the urban growth boundary policies of two case studies (Thurston
County, Washington and Metro Portland, Oregon).
The literature review reveals that urban growth boundaries are a simple concept, yet they
are potentially troublesome policy considerations. As defined in the literature, urban growth
boundaries are lines on a map that demarcate urban from rural land, thus setting a limit on urban
expansion. The literature generally concludes that urban growth boundaries can be an extremely
effective component to broader growth management programs, given a number of policy design
considerations are taken into account.
A thorough examination of current growth management initiatives in the Lower Mainland
reveals that the substantive content of both the Livable Region Strategic Plan (1996) and the
Growth Strategies Statutes Amendments Act, 1995 is "sustainable", albeit somewhat incomplete.
In placing these policies in comparative perspective with the urban growth boundary policies of
the two case studies, it is generally concluded that urban growth boundaries would contribute to
current efforts at managing urban growth in the Lower Mainland by containing sprawl and
ensuring the contiguity of urban development. Furthermore, it is argued that Provincial legislation
should be amended in a way that outlines province-wide urban containment goals, ensures better
interjurisdictional coordination of policies, and establishes enforcement mechanisms that include
provisions for the application of sanctions upon noncompliant jurisdictions. Finally, while the
case studies revealed some important information regarding urban containment in the Lower
Mainland, they also served to confirm the information presented in the literature review, thus
demonstrating consistency between theoretical notions of urban containment and practical
experiences with urban growth boundaries. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UBC/oai:circle.library.ubc.ca:2429/6354 |
| Date | 11 1900 |
| Creators | Kozak, Edward W. |
| Source Sets | University of British Columbia |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis/Dissertation |
| Format | 14506624 bytes, application/pdf |
| Rights | For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use. |
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