1. Vancouver’s Evolving Urbanism:
More Sustainable, Livable, Vibrant….more Everything
Brent Toderian, MCIP
Director of Planning

2. Greater Vancouver Regional District
(now Metro Vancouver)

3. Our Regional Context
GVRD Regional Town Centres

4. The Goal: A Sustainable, Livable, Vibrant Downtown

5. …and City!

6. Sustainability through Livability
The Central Area
Land Area: 2.2 square miles (579
hectares)
Population: 85,000 (2005 Estimate)

7. We don’t like to brag, but…
Vancouver tops cities survey
City named No.1 in Americas for quality of living,
No.4 in the world

8. “Living First” and the Central Area Plan

9. City Plans and Visions

10. Downtown Livability is density done well:
1. Movement

11. The most sustainable movement option…
walking (nearness)

12. Walking infrastructure:
horizontal and vertical

13. Cycling’s our second choice

14. Burrard Bridge Trial

15. A cycle-friendly public realm

16. All kinds of cycling….

17. …and we didn’t stage this.

18. Planning for transit

19. Not so much transit corridors,
as corridors of urbanism…

20. Even transit on water…

21. Downtown Livability is density done well:
2. Design / Quality

22. City design starts with waterfront design

23. Height is just a design challenge…

24. Designing an artful mix

25. Designing a human-scale

26. Designing in art Design AS art

27. Designing art everywhere

28. Downtown Livability is density done well:
3. Amenities

29. Our beaches are our squares…

30. Our water edge is our public life…

31. Our parks, through development…

32. Our squares, through development…

33. Many more amenities and benefits,
through development

34. Even “private” spaces are semi-public…

35. Our central area: A series of experiments

36. False Creek South

37. False Creek South

38. Granville Island

39. Granville Island

40. False Creek North

41. False Creek North

42. False Creek North from the South Shore (Charleson Park)
1983
2003

44. Coal Harbour

45. Coal Harbour

46. New Developments
Shangri-la
James K Cheng Architecture

47. Shangri-la
James K Cheng Architecture

48. Ritz Carlton (“Vancouver’s Turn”)
Arthur Erickson

49. Hotel Georgia
HB-IBI

50. Did “Living First” go on too long?

51. Has downtown become a resort?

52. What did we do with the “Metro Core Study”?

53. What does this mean for “Living First”?

54. Vancouver Convention Centre Expansion

55. Convention Centre

56. Convention Centre

57. Woodwards
Henriques & Partners

58. Woodwards
Henriques & Partners

59. The Downtown Capacity &
View Corridors Study

60. Skyline, Ridge Line, Shoreline

62. View ‘A’: Alder Terrace to Mount Seymour
1987 2009

63. Heritage Restorations

64. Heritage Restorations

65. Heritage Restorations

68. General Heights
(pattern)

69. Special Sites
(punctuation)

71. Where’s The Square?

72. Where’s The Square?

73. Where’s The Square?

74. Where’s The Square?

75. Redesigning Granville Street

76. Carrall Street Greenway
Recreational Network
Seawall Loop

77. Carrall Street Greenway

78. Community Gardens

79. Community Gardens

80. Toronto: Vancouverism?

81. San Diego: Vancouverism?

82. Let’s look at the rest of Vancouver…

83. Outside the downtown…

84. Crossroads
Busby Perkins and Will

85. Crossroads
Busby Perkins and Will

86. The Rise
Nigel Baldwin, Architect

87. Many new building types

88. Arbutus Walk

89. Arbutus Walk

90. Collingwood Village

91. Oakridge
New Project

92. East Fraserlands
New Project

93. Olympic Village/ SEFC

94. Olympic Village

95. Olympic Plaza

96. Olympic Village

97. Olympic Village

98. Olympic Village

99. Olympic Village

100. Social Housing Projects
Olympic Village
Net Zero Building

101. The new Generation: Sustainability Front and Centre

102. The challenges are clear…

103. The challenges
are clear…

104. Vancouver’s GHG emissions
are not sustainable…
BUSBY PERKINS+WILL

105. We know the Culprits…

106. The Density / GHG relationship
BUSBY PERKINS+WILL

107. What is EcoDensity?
The search for the metaphor
Livability
Affordability
Sustainability

108. EcoDensity is about the footprint

109. Done well, density can enable…
EcoDensity
• Reduced energy use in
buildings, getting around
• More green design options
• Less sprawl
• More affordable housing
choices
• Public health
• Vitality, diversity, safety
• Etc, etc, etc…

110. Housing density and green design
EcoDensity

111. Many levels of density
(but no “stable neighbourhoods”) EcoDensity
• Arterial mid-rise housing
• Ground oriented housing
(gentle density)
• Backyard laneway infill
housing (hidden
density)
• Secondary suites within
homes (invisible density)

112. Laneway Housing
(“Hidden Density”)
EcoDensity

113. EcoDensity was “the big story”

114. EcoDensity was “the big story”

115. What does the Charter do?

116. Resets Vancouver's philosophy

117. Makes strong commitments

118. Influences ALL new and existing approaches

119. Commits to an eco-city of eco-neighborhoods
(a shared responsibility)

120. Actions
EcoDensity
Greener Buildings
• LEED™ SILVER “PLUS”
• LEED™ GOLD BY 2010
• GREEN DESIGN BEFORE
TECHNOLOGY

121. Actions
EcoDensity
Greener Large Sites
• District energy
• Solar orientation
• Passive energy solutions
• Urban agriculture
• TDM prioritizing sustainable
modes
• Sustainable rainwater
management plan
• Solid waste diversion strategy
• Affordability

122. Actions
EcoDensity
• Removing disincentives to
Green Design
• Enabling laneway housing, secondary suites,
basement suites
• EcoDensity leadership on City Land
• Green Application Priority
• More flexibility, fewer barriers

123. Actions
EcoDensity
• An “Eco”CityPlan
• New strategies for District
Energy
• New tools to achieve amenities
• Measurement tools
• Progress Report Structure

124. Competition Winner
Vancouver Primary
Sturgess Architecture (Jeremy Sturgess) - Calgary

125. Competition Winners

126. Many winners addressed Laneway Housing

127. EcoDensity
Where We Were…

128. EcoDensity
Where We Are…

129. From EcoDensity to “The Greenest City in the World?”

130. The Greenest City in the World by 2020:
Think you can do better?
• Urban agriculture
• District Energy
• Burrard Bridge traffic trial
• Car-free streets
• Bike sharing
• Green jobs
• Etc.

131. A Carbon Neutral City by 2030?

132. Council for Canadian Urbanism

133. Council for Canadian Urbanism

134. PLAN like you love cities…
LISTEN like you love opinions…
DESIGN like you love people…
… and always challenge the word “can’t”.

135. Thank you.
Brent Toderian, MCIP
Director of Planning