If density is the definitive future to urban planning, how can we ensure these options are not just compact and sustainable, but also liveable?

Smart growth, urban density and intensification — this has been the underlying mantra of city planning offices around the world.
And not just today. In pre-modern times, cities were built compact. Sprawling metropolises were just not practical as distances could only be crossed on foot or on pack animals. Preserving agricultural land just outside the city was a necessary practice to provide city residents with an adequate level of food supply.

Then came the advent of the automobile. The mass marketing of the car during the post-Second World War era allowed families the freedom to move outside crowded cities into more spacious homes, with larger yards and open spaces. This trend, which continued for half a century, brought about a seemingly never-ending suburban expansion that have resulted in congested highways, unwieldy transit options, increased pollution, and the destruction of agricultural land and forests. Maybe history had it right. For the past couple of decades, urban planners and governments in B.C. — and beyond — have been promoting urban density as a means to slow down or even reverse the negative consequences of urban sprawl.
Vancouver-area cities and municipalities have been a leader in this regard.

“The efficiency of Metro Vancouver’s urban growth pattern compares very favourably to most other metropolitan areas,” says Terry Hoff, senior regional planner with the regional planning division at Metro Vancouver. “Studies done by the Sightline Institute in Seattle and the Neptis Foundation in Toronto show Metro Vancouver to have a significantly more compact urban growth pattern than other cities such as Toronto, Calgary, Seattle and Portland.”

Single-family dwellings accounted for nearly three-quarters of Metro Vancouver’s housing stock in 1966; today, they account for less than half, which means there are more medium- and higher-density housing units than there are single-family dwellings in the region.

Hoff credits our geographic makeup, market forces (i.e., housing affordability) and government planning as the forces behind high-density living. And not just in the downtown core. He explains that Metro Vancouver’s current Liveable Region Strategic Plan (1996) directs the increased densification of the Burrard Peninsula (i.e., Burnaby/Tri-Cities) and North Surrey.

The next phase of Metro Vancouver’s growth strategy is even more ambitious. Hoff says that Metro 2040, a regional plan to supersede the 1996 plan, anticipates 1.2 million additional residents and 575,000 new dwellings by 2041. Metro 2040, which is to be released by year end, targets two-thirds of future growth to be focused within the area’s 26 urban centres and along the transit corridor network.

Traditionally, residential developments in urban centres have attracted young professionals or empty nesters. Living steps away from restaurants, work opportunities and transit have long been pluses for the childless. But, in order for our region’s municipalities to meet Metro Vancouver’s targets, planners, developers and builders need to design high-density residential communities that appeal to larger families.

The challenge is this: how do you entice an individual, who grew up enjoying the independence of a spacious single-family home, to move his or her young family into a smaller living space within the confines of a multi-family community?

The City of Vancouver, conscious of the fact that, without regulation, increased downtown residential density is likely to consist of mostly single residents and couples, implemented its High-Density Housing for Families with Children Guidelines.

Vancouver’s guidelines require that 25 per cent of all new downtown apartments be designed for families with children, a standard that greatly surpasses that of most cities. These apartments must include at least two bedrooms, be easily accessible to outdoor play areas and provide common rooms for indoor play.

Downtown developers are also required, as a condition of development approval, to directly contribute to funds that provide for a range of public amenities to serve downtown neighbourhoods. Developer levies can reach up to $30 per square foot. The types of funded amenities include community centres, public art, play areas, school sites, childcare centres, gardens, fountains, landscaped sidewalks and waterfront promenades.
For the most part, this policy has been successful in attracting some small families to the downtown core. In 2001, there were a total of 4,435 residents under the age of 18 living in downtown Vancouver. Today, there are more than 7,000 children. Inner city birthrates are 50 to 90 per month, higher than the birthrates of even many suburban neighbourhoods.

Michael Gellar, a Vancouver-based architect, real estate consultant and industry observer, feels that the City of Vancouver is a good role model for other Metro Vancouver municipalities to follow in terms of density and amenities.

“People complain about not having parks or community centres, but if you look at Vancouver, you look at Coal Harbour or you look at the north shore of False Creek, those communities have excellent playing fields, community centres and infrastructure,” says Geller. “Indeed, they are in some respects better served than some of the older suburban neighbourhoods.”

Amenities may be covered, but what about living space? Is a two-bedroom condo really enough to entice a couple with two and a dog to give up a larger home further out?

“When you speak to people who live in a house and you ask them if they have thought about moving to an apartment, so often they say no because they really don’t want to live in an apartment. And if you ask them why, it’s often because they’re used to having some more space and a nice area for sitting outside. So many apartments that we see today don’t accommodate that,” says Geller. “There are also very few three-bedroom apartments being built or apartments with enough storage or larger outdoor spaces.”

Another major barrier keeping families from moving to some denser centres is the lack of school infrastructure. Vancouver’s downtown peninsula has suffered a terrible shortage of schools. The existing schools are unable to accommodate the exploding population, giving many families no other choice than to drive their children to other districts.

“The city has been encouraging families to move into these new downtown communities, but, unfortunately, the school board and/or the province — they each blame the other — has not kept up with the demand in terms of providing new schools,” contends Geller.

“We had the same problem at UniverCity [the multi-family development] at Simon Fraser University [on Burnaby Mountain]. We could not get the school board there to proceed with a school when we wanted them to. Generally speaking, school boards want to see the whites of the children’s eyes before they will build the school. There are very few examples where the schools were built before they see the children moved in.”

According to Geller, this needs to change if municipal governments expect families to “buy in” to new urban living developments.

Beyond issues relating to space and schools, it may be financial issues that ultimately keep many families away from moving in and up. Vancouver’s success has come at a price — the demand for housing in the downtown core and nearby communities has resulted in soaring prices. In 2008, the average price of a downtown condo was approximately $420,000 in Vancouver compared to $242,000 in Toronto and $202,000 in Montreal. Vancouver may be one of the most liveable cities in the world, but fewer and fewer people can afford to live here.

“When high-density condominiums were first being built in Vancouver , one of the underlying rationales was to come up with something that was more affordable,” says Geller. “But over the years we have seen more and more developments that are actually providing apartments that are more expensive than single family houses [farther out].”

Gellar suggests creating urban communities with varying price points to allow for greater affordability and diversity.

Many outlying cities and municipalities in the greater Vancouver region have been successful in creating family-friendly high-density communities at prices that are a little more affordable. Surrey Central, for example, boasts three SkyTrain stations, several parks and recreational facilities, retail and office towers employing more than 13,000 people and a mix of high-, medium- and low-density housing. At the lowest end, Concord Pacific pre-sold one-bedroom condos at their Park Place development starting at $199,000. More spacious, Solterra Developments is offering two- and three-bedroom executive townhomes in its Sun at 72 project, starting at just under $300,000.

Despite its challenges, to date, the Vancouver model of urban planning and design, renowned internationally as “Vancouverism,” is the benchmark for many cities around the world, for its effective land use, transportation and sustainability. The contemporary automobile-dominated society, with its long distances, excessive energy consumption and destruction of agricultural land, is proving to be socially, economically and environmentally unsustainable.

As Michael Geller puts it, “It’s time to build up, not out.” Let’s just make it livable. BCHM