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Livable Centres
In the Livable Region Strategic Plan, the foundation of the complete communities concept is the network of regional and municipal town centres. Municipal town centres serve a number of neighbourhoods and/or are the main centre for the smaller municipalities. They have a smaller catchment than the regional town centres. They are intended to provide business and community facilities, together with opportunities for medium and higher-density residential development in both ground-oriented housing and apartments. They would contain a mixture of municipal-serving businesses and local services, be transit and pedestrian-oriented, and generally be linked by bus connections to the regional transportation system. The Strategic Plan identifies 13 municipal town centres, although municipal plans may include others.
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The decisions made by cities and regions regarding how land is used and how people travel in urban areas is having significant impacts on the livability of the region. Increasingly, people are asking to live closer to work, school, services and recreational opportunities and to have transportation options to get there.
Metro Vancouver and its partner municipalities have worked together for more than 25 years to build the future of this region around a Metropolitan Core and a network of town centres located at strategic locations across the region. It is intended that these centres offer a range of housing types, tenures and prices, with shopping, entertainment activities and jobs nearby or accessible by a short transit or automobile trip. Safe, attractive streetscapes and public spaces will encourage people to walk and cycle around the centre.
Managing growth in livable centres throughout the region has many economic, environmental and social objectives which are highlighted below. |
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1. Reducing Travel Time and Increasing Travel Options With congestion on the rise and the cost of car ownership increasing, most regional residents would jump at the opportunity for shorter trips to work, home, shopping and recreational activities. Developing Regional Town Centres with employment, retail and entertainment choices means people have access to more options within a shorter distance. Better yet, due to the compact scale and mix of uses in the regional centres, most destinations are only a short walk or cycle away. | 2. Moving Goods More Efficiently When housing, jobs and services are located in close proximity to one another, trips are shorter and transportation alternatives such as walking, cycling and transit become more attractive. The result is fewer cars on the road, shorter trips for those who do drive, and focused transportation spending. The net impact of these changes can increase the efficiency of goods movement through the region, making it more economical to do business in Metro Vancouver. | 3. Lowering the Cost of Infrastructure Higher density, mixed use development means greater use of less land and distributing the cost of servicing and infrastructure between more parties, reducing the overall cost. Lower parking requirements in areas with higher use of alternative transportation options further reduces development costs. | 4. Providing a Range of Housing Choice Metro Vancouver residents need different housing types (townhouses, low-rise and high-rise apartments), unit sizes and tenures, as well as a range of housing prices to meet each household budget. The Regional Town Centres continue to succeed in providing a variety of housing choice. These housing opportunities can accommodate household change over time, allowing people to continue to live in their community at various life stages. | 5. Attracting Diverse Services and Amenities Due to their higher population, higher density areas provide a range of shopping, recreation and housing choice that is often not economically feasible in more dispersed locations. Developing town centres across the region locates regional residents closer to these more specialized services and attractions.
Of course, there are also benefits for businesses locating in these mixed use centres. Businesses can take advantage of the larger regional market passing through the transportation hub, while at the same time benefiting from a consistent market composed of people living and working in the centre. | 6. Increasing the Quality of the Work Environment Locating jobs in centres has proven to be a successful strategy for providing choice among working environments. In many North American cities, employees are choosing jobs in central locations served by transit with shopping and services close by in order to make their commutes more pleasant and take advantage of opportunities to run errands or recreate on lunch breaks and before and after work | 7. Using less land for more development Clustered, higher density development allows more development on less land. For example, a 100,000 square foot office building with underground parking located in a Regional Town Centre occupies approximately 8 percent of the land occupied by a building of comparable size with a surface parking lot in a business park location. | 8. Reducing emmissions with green locations Automobile use accounts for approximately 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in Metro Vancouver. A key strategy to meet Kyoto targets and improve regional air quality is to organize land uses so alternative transportation modes are a viable option for more commuters. There is a higher likelihood that employees working in Regional Town Centres will drive less as part of their daily commute, either because they live close enough to walk or cycle, or because they can take transit to the regional hub.
For example, 250 workers in a 50,000 square foot office building in a town centre would create about 200 tonnes of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions annually through their commute to work. In an office park setting, about 260 tonnes would be produced through commuting due to the low percentage taking transit, walking or cycling. By way of comparison, if the same office building was converted to a high performance “green building” GHG emissions would be reduced by about 20 tonnes annually. Therefore when looking for opportunities to improve air quality, actions will result in the most benefit by concentrating office development in green “locations” such as town centres. |
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