This thesis examines gambling in British Columbia and reviews the failed Seaport
Centre casino proposal for downtown Vancouver.
The third wave of gambling sweeping across North America started when the state
of Nevada re-legalized casinos in 1931, and underwent a major boom with the
introduction of the first state lottery this century in New Hampshire in 1964. Since this
time, virtually every state and provincial government in North America has introduced
some form of legalized gambling.
This thesis examines the third wave of gambling, and the rise of the urban casino
which began to emerge in the late 1980's and early 1990's. The rise of the urban casino
provides policy makers significant urban planning considerations. First, a review is
conducted of the literature on gambling, illustrating the new phenomenon in gambling -
the urban casino. Second, an analysis and history of gambling in Canada and British
Columbia is explored. Third, a case study on the Seaport Centre casino proposal for
Vancouver's downtown waterfront is documented, illustrating the issues associated with
urban casinos from a planning perspective.
The thesis documents the history of gambling in North American society. The
current gambling wave sweeping the continent has been described as the third wave of
gambling. Driving the most recent wave of gambling has been governments revenue
imperative, promotion of gambling interest from business and certain interest groups and
consumers demand for gambling games. As casinos moved to the forefront of the
gambling explosion, the rise of the urban casino provided complex urban planning
considerations. The case study on the Seaport Centre casino proposal for Vancouver
provides a good framework for understanding the issues associated with urban casinos,
many of which are local in nature. While the Seaport Centre proposal ultimately failed,
the comprehensive analysis the City of Vancouver conducted serves as a useful guide for
policy makers to understand the issues associated with an urban casino.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:BVAU.2429/7824 |
| Date | 05 1900 |
| Creators | Booth, Robert D. |
| 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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