Vancouver's newly-drafted New Official Development Plan proposes creating 17 villages to densify areas not covered by current legislation.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
Vancouver city planners believe it takes a village to grow a city. City staff are working on the creation of 17 new villages that will add more density to specific areas that aren’t already covered by existing policies.
The villages were part of the city’s Vancouver Plan in 2022 and are now a key part of the newly drafted Official Development Plan. The city has held five open houses to discuss the villages, as well as a couple of virtual information sessions, and they invited public feedback through an online survey until Dec. 12. However, few people would know that there is a plan under way to gently densify specific intersections like Commercial Street and East 20th Avenue, Heather Street and West 33rd Avenue, Knight Street and East 33rd Avenue, Oak Street and West 49th Avenue, and Macdonald Street and West 16th Avenue, to name just some of the new ‘villages.’
The plan aims to increase housing, shops and services. Some of the intersections targeted for a village, such as Nanaimo Street and East Broadway, are already undergoing densification, while others, such as Victoria Drive and East 61st Avenue, are mostly detached houses. The plan includes a total of 25 villages, but the city is currently working on 17. The remaining eight have already been rezoned, need more work or fall under other plans.
Neil Hrushowy, director of community planning for the city, said “the scale that this is happening” at is unique to North American planning. By introducing 17 new villages all at once throughout Vancouver, it will allow the city to grow intentionally.
The Knight Street and East 33rd Ave. intersection is one posed for development, according to the draft plan.Kerry Gold/The Globe and Mail
“Instead of only opening up two or three [areas] at a time and forcing all the development into those [areas] where you get much more rapid change and it would feel a little bit more like, you know, the city imposing change by doing all these blocks at the same time, we actually allow the neighbourhoods to evolve more slowly and allow that more organic feel over time,” said Mr. Hrushowy. “And so some people actually may be frustrated, that actually you don’t get all that rapid change all at once. But I think most people would say, ‘No, it’s a chance for the neighbourhood to slowly adapt; to evolve over time, versus the pressure of a lot of change all at once.’”
The idea is to target low-density areas, said urban planner Kirsten Behler, who is project lead for the 17 villages.
Some critics of the villages plan say it is a “one-size-fits-all” approach that will homogenize the look of the city and erode existing neighbourhood character. The Commercial Street village, for example, is already a street known for revitalized heritage buildings, boutique stores and light industrial that gave Equinox Gallery a home. Would rezoning for more residential density – up to six storeys, including low-rise apartments, townhouses and multiplexes – enhance the street, or gentrify it so that legacy businesses and character get pushed out?
“We do think that the character of the village really develops over time, and it’s very much based on the people that live in it,” said Ms. Behler. “When you look at many of our low-density areas today, they essentially have had the same zoning for a long, long time, but they’re quite different.”
Old businesses won’t necessarily be displaced, she added.
“We know that lease rates tend to be more expensive [in new buildings],” said Ms. Behler. “I would say that there’s not a direct link in them displacing an old business in an older building.”
According to the city’s recently updated official development plan, more than half of Vancouver residents do not live within walking distance of their daily needs, such as shops, housing, transit, parks and schools.
Not everyone is thrilled at the prospect of more rezonings. Vancouver already has the 500-block Broadway Plan, which opened up areas for more high-rises. There is also the provincial legislation for more high-rises in transit-oriented areas.
Heather Street and West 33rd Ave. is an area for proposed development, though critics say the plan is 'one-size-fits-all.'Kerry Gold/The Globe and Mail
Andy Yan, urban planner and associate professor of professional practice in urban studies at Simon Fraser University, said the focus is too often on residential instead of comprehensive land use, such as creative industrial spaces, commercial, or amenities such as schools. He also finds the approach forced, and that it doesn’t acknowledge cultural differences.
“It’s the kind of ‘tech bro’ approach. That is, ‘Move fast and break things,’ in neighbourhoods that are working. What are the consequences? What’s the impact on land values? Is this enough to nudge out existing businesses?”
Former senior city planner and head planner for Metro Vancouver, Christina DeMarco, finds the villages plan puzzling because the city’s official development plan already has neighbourhood centres that could be enhanced, instead of creating a whole new category for rezonings. As well, she said there’s too much overlap as is, between the neighbourhood centres the city has identified and rapid transit areas that have been targeted for higher densities.
“To me, it’s more fantasy than anything else. And a misuse of city resources,” said Ms. DeMarco.
She said that some retail spaces at intersections are the result of the old streetcar grid from 100 years ago. But some of those commercial nodes became irrelevant as people became car-dependent. Ms. DeMarco doesn’t see the point in trying to revitalize those small retail nodes. Instead, she believes the city should help existing neighbourhood centres such as Dunbar or Point Grey Village, or Denman Street.
“It’s no use trying to resuscitate the tiny little scraps of commercial that were there for a reason 100 years ago. The resources the city really should be putting into [the city] are around the neighbourhood centres and really figuring out how we can improve the neighbourhood centres, and how we can make them more lively and prosperous.”
Urban designer Frank Ducote, who worked at the municipal level for 25 years, said he’s always cautious when urban planners draw lines on maps. A sensitive approach to maintaining each distinct neighbourhood needs to happen, he said. The city should include tools that would put the brakes on land assemblies, for example, and encourage a “slow rate of growth.”
He said he suspects the villages might be more of a “rationale to densify particular areas of the city.”
“There are feelings about places,” said Mr. Ducote. “Physically, we call them character. How do you respond to the feeling of this place? But also, other than that, are they small owner-run businesses? Are they a whole bunch of chains? Just 7-Eleven and a gas station? Those all communicate different feelings to the people using them.
“So, modest incremental development, properly drawn neighbourhood centres as shown … modest increments of development, small frontages, walkability being emphasized, you know, that kind of thing.”