What were the biggest moments in urban planning in Vancouver in 2019?
The Vancouver City Planning Commission is preparing for our fifth annual “Year-in-Review” panel event to reflect on what happened in 2019 with regards to our city’s built form, economics, quality of life and sustainability.
We are looking to identify the innovative and transformative decisions and actions around land use, neighbourhood planning and development that could significant impact the future of Vancouver.
The Chronology Committee, based on the input from our November 19, 2019 workshop, has identified the following preliminary milestones.
- City approves Rain City Strategy
- Climate Emergency Response
- Council approves expropriation of 2 Downtown Eastside hotels
- Culture | Shift Arts and Culture Plan
- Squamish Nation proposes 6,000-unit development by Burrard Bridge
While the participants in this event were asked to address the milestones the city had come to acknowledge, they were also asked to propose and discuss ones that may not have been brought to the table. In particular, there were four potential milestones pinpointed at the workshop that we include for consideration:
- Vancouver Magazine‘s inclusion of MST Development Corporation as the most influential power player in Vancouver in 2019;
- Vancouver Park Board addresses camping in Oppenheimer Park
- Potential UNESCO nomination of Chinatown animates community activities,
- The impact of the foreign buyers tax.
Other potential milestones that were considered by the Chronology Committee, but did not make our final cut included:
- Broadway Plan (and the Broadway Subway project) – not considered a 2019 milestone
- Business licence required for ride-hailing companies – not yet launched in Vancouver
- City-wide Plan – announced in 2018, and won;t be concluded for a couple of years.
- False Creek Flats Arterial Study – not considered significant or unique enough for inclusion
- Federal government works with City on housing – not considered significant or unique enough for inclusion
- VanPlay: Vancouver’s Parks and Recreation Master Plan – so far only the plan has been announced. We will monitor for impacts as it is implemented