Photo: The Canadian Press
A Seabus passenger ferry, right, travels across Burrard Bay at sunset as downtown Vancouver and the harbor are seen from Mount Burnaby, Monday, July 11, 2022.
Vancouver City Council has approved a land-use strategy aimed at reshaping the city to make it more “fair, accessible, affordable and sustainable” in the years to come.
A statement from the city government said the plan for Vancouver represents “a new way for the city to grow by enabling more housing options in all neighborhoods,” along with expanding social housing, transportation options and other infrastructure.
The plan also contains what the city calls a comprehensive environmental framework for protecting greenspace and treetops and restoring ecosystems.
The city’s news release said the next step will be for the council to approve proposals directing staff to consider how tenant protections and developer contributions can be included as part of implementing the plan.
Theresa O’Donnell, general manager of planning, urban design and sustainability, says this is the first time in Vancouver’s history that the city has a “comprehensive direction” for future growth that is coordinated with other levels of government.
Mayor Kennedy Stewart says the approval of the plan marks a new way forward for Vancouver’s future, “led by the promise to make every neighborhood more accessible, equitable and vibrant for all.”
“We are a city of renters, and we all deserve the opportunity to live a great life in every neighborhood,” the mayor said in a statement Friday. “The Plan for Vancouver will expand housing choices and create new opportunities in parts of the city that are largely foreclosed today — all without displacing longtime tenants.”
Vancouver will be home to about 260,000 more people with up to 210,000 more jobs by 2050, O’Donnell says, and the new strategy allows the city to plan for the future.
The plan outlines the city’s vision in 11 policy areas: housing; economy; climate; ecology; transportation; child care; public infrastructure; arts, culture and heritage; public spaces; watersheds and water resources; and food systems.
The new land-use strategy will direct new housing choices to low-density neighborhoods that are “amenity-rich,” it says, along with adding amenities and services to areas that are currently underserved.
The city plans to “significantly increase the supply of social and supportive housing” and support Indigenous-led housing and wellness projects, the plan says.
It also aims to “embed ecosystems into planning” and create an “integrated network of public spaces, ecological corridors” and greenways for active transport.
In the future, it says, the goal is for 76 percent of Vancouverites to live within a five-minute walk of shops and services, up from the current 58 percent.
Other goals include expanding infrastructure and services ranging from rapid transit centers to accessible childcare facilities to public restrooms throughout the city.
The plan was developed through a two-and-a-half-year process involving “extensive public engagement, technical analysis and stakeholder input,” the city says.
“The focus of public engagement activities included working with disenfranchised communities and the organizations that serve them.”
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