Environment

Vancouver econdensity debate rages on

by ryan | February 27, 2008 at 01:52 pm

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(Opinion) Econdensity is a positive development for the city of Vancouver. If implemented properly, it will create an environment which is not only ecologically efficient but also exciting and vibrant. Manhattan is one of the most dense cities in the world but also one of the most efficient and as everyone knows exciting. An increased supply of housing units will bring down the cost in conjunction with mandated social housing requirements.

The risks lie in not having an infrastructure which can support the density and that inhospitable family environment that condos create. Infrastructure will come with time and family homes will always exist outside the downtown core.

Hundreds of people turned out for a public hearing at Vancouver City Hall Tuesday night to have their say on the mayor's proposal to transform the city with his Ecodensity plan.

Even before the meeting, began the council chambers and the foyer at city hall were packed with people waiting for their turn to speak. Meanwhile, outside many opponents of the plan staged a noisy protest on the front steps.

The idea behind Mayor Sam Sullivan's Ecodensity plan, announced in June 2006, is to spread Vancouver's rapid population growth more evenly across the whole city, rather than having it concentrated in the downtown core. A major part of the plan is to move away from single-family homes, and densifying all of Vancouver.

But, so far there is little public consensus on the plan, with some saying it's a disguise for developers to build as much as they wish, and other calling it the leading edge of an environmentally-friendly vision of the future.

What do you think?

Has "Ecodensity" come to your neighbourhood?

Does it make housing more affordable, or less livable?

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aletteke

at 17:56 on February 27th, 2008

We live in one of the largest land mass on earth and feel the need to build up over out? We have only 1/10th of the US population and their cities are far more airy. density builds anxiety in lab rat's and people, this will result in a sharp increase in crime.