The Municipal Reform Act of 1835 initiated by Earl Grey brought cities in the UK into the modern world. This reform wave hit Canada in the form of the Baldwin Act of 1849 which set the standard for all Canadian cities.
The Progressive Movement arose in the late 1800s in the US. It was a reaction against the corruption and incompetence that came out of earlier democratic reforms. Science, technology and professionals were revolutionizing life; people were hopeful about applying these to civic government.
The emphasis on technology and professionals arising out of the Second Wave of urban reform was not the panacea we had hoped for. Citizen groups pushed back against experts in Canada’s Third Wave of urban reform.
For 40 years, Vancouver developed without government planning. The Canadian Pacific Railway laid out Vancouver’s streets before the city government existed. The London-based BC Electric Company chose the arterial streets to maximize riders on its streetcars. London was the model, where order came from human interaction not human design.
Robert Horne-Payne, founder of BC Electric Company sold it in 1928 then died shortly after. That same year, Harland Bartholomew presented his radical Plan for Vancouver, claiming cities are better designed and organized by planners than by natural processes.
Good urban planning and densification is often stymied by political processes that allow small groups with vested interests to veto good proposals. Fixing this design flaw will improve municipal governance and allow better urban planning.
Before the evolution of political parties in Vancouver, politicians organized themselves in loose political factions. These were related to earlier political factions that had already developed in Victoria.
Only cities have the mandate to permit the density needed to reduce house prices and environmental degradation. Vancouver urban planning is beginning to embrace city densification, and it is important to explain and describe density and its benefits.
How was Metro Vancouver laid out? This video helps understand urban planning for Burnaby, Richmond, Surrey, Delta, Coquitlam, North Vancouver, Maple Ridge, Aldergrove, Abbotsford, etc.