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High density residential design in Downtown South, Vancouver: a policy analysis

University of British Columbia

This thesis looks at how the City of Vancouver is dealing with urban design issues in the emerging high density residential community of Downtown South. Specifically, the thesis asks if land use policies, zoning and design guidelines for the new community encourage two basic principles of successful high density communities; pedestrian-orientation and diversity. These two elements were chosen from a literature review which points to pedestrian-orientation and diversity as two essential design elements in such communities. To investigate this question Downtown South's land use policies, zoning and design guidelines are reviewed and analyzed. Also, two recently constructed buildings are observed to see if these design elements are promoted. In addition interviews conducted with city planners, architects and developers are presented to aid in evaluation of the policies and their resultant landscape. It is found that the land use policies, zoning and design guidelines for Downtown South envision pedestrian-orientated design and physical, as well as social, diversity for the community. This is illustrated by the policies requiring a constant low-rise street wall with ground-oriented units, a detailed streetscape design with a profusion of landscaping, a mix of land uses in the community, encouragement of social housing and heritage building retention. The policies were also found to be generally appropriate for the creation of a vibrant high density residential community by both architects and developers involved with projects in the area. Weaknesses of the policies are also identified, such as the issues of security and noise pollution not being adequately addressed. Also it is found that the intended building and streetscape design in the design guidelines does not always translate into built form. One of the buildings analyzed adheres to the vision of Downtown South much more than the other, although both fully comply with all regulations in place. Implications for policy are that although the land use policies, zoning and design guidelines do include the essential characteristics of pedestrian-orientation and diversity, they must be strictly enforced, applied universally to all projects and properly address the important issues of security and noise pollution if a safe, livable neighbourhood with a strong identity and identifiable character is to emerge.

Thesis/Dissertation

application/pdf

2009-03-06

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.

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/5709

Planning

University of British Columbia

UBCV

DSpace