Retrofitting suburbs : case studies of the evolution of the urban fringe

• Main Author: Mortensen, Michael S.
• Language: English
• Published: 2009
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/7398

As the first post-war suburbs turn fifty, there will be a window of opportunity to retrofit these places to meet contemporary housing and community needs. Field studies conducted in five postwar-era subdivisions in Richmond BC reveal that a cycle of housing demolition and redevelopment began in the late 1980s. Unfortunately, dated zoning bylaws continue to exclude forms of development that depart from the singlefamily template of the 1950s. There are, however, examples of better redevelopment practices within the older urban fabric. Case studies in Vancouver's first-ring of streetcar suburbs reveal that a wide range of housing redevelopment has been enabled by a participatory process of discretionary rezoning over the past twenty-five years. The concrete examples of urban form, land-use policies and planning processes offered by the Vancouver experience can be applied in the redevelopment of postwar suburbs. Recent planning in Delta BC suggests that this approach can be used with success.