Course:GEOG350/2010WT2/RichmondCityCentre

Map of Richmond [1]

Introduction

This Wiki page will primarily be looking at the the influence of the Canada Line on the City of Richmond - specifically the Brighouse Village that is situated at the heart of the Richmond City Centre. The construction of the Canada Line has many implications on this part of the city because it essentially affects and addresses all aspects of the city, such as urbanization, immigration, housing, sustainability and transportation, which will be looked in more detail in the paragraphs to follow. Ultimately, this research project aims to show the detailed specificities of the impacts Canada Line has brought to Brighouse, what this large scale rail transportation entails in the future and how these rising issues can be addressed by the City of Richmond.

Defined Boundaries

Brighouse neighbourhood is enclosed by the cross streets of Westminster Highway, Garden City Road, Granville Avenue and Gilbert Road, on the north, east, south and west sides, respectively. Our primary focus is the Brighouse area, which includes the major landmark of the Canada Line Terminus Station. With the introduction of an entirely new transport system, Richmond has undergone enormous social and environmental transformations. People who are affected by the Canada Line extend beyond the everyday commuters and residents who live nearby, because it also determines how the City of Richmond envisions the city to grow and to develop in the near future. The land is mostly covered with "Highly Densed Mixed Area" - that most of the area is included in Brighouse neighbourhood throughout whole City of Richmond. Although the majority of land use in Richmond are "Agriculture", "Residential", and "Business and Industry", Brighouse Village is mainly used as commercial and mixed activities.

Boundaries of the neighbourhood [2]

Landuse of the City of Richmond[3]

Background Information

History

Map of Richmond from the 1930’s showing land division into sections. These sections later became major roads. [4]

Though founded in 1879, Richmond, located on Lulu Island, became a city just twenty years ago on December 3 of 1990. Prior to that, it qualified only as a municipality due to its sparse population. Because of its distinct geography and proximity to the Fraser River, Richmond's early economy was based largely upon fishing, agriculture and shipping industries. As these industries flourished in the early development of Richmond, it also brought to the city a flow of settlers and migrant workers, mainly from Asia.

One of the recent changes that Richmond experienced is the construction of a rapid transit system, the Canada Line, which connects Richmond and Vancouver. The construction began in the spring of 2007 and was completed in August of 2009. The purpose of the Canada Line was to increase transportation efficiency, mainly in the anticipation of the 2010 Winter Olympics, in order to enable residents and visitors to travel between different venue sites. Sites such as the Richmond Olympic Oval, the O-Zone at the Minoru Park, and the Olympic Rings filled with cranberries floating on water at Brighouse Park, were created for the Olympics.

Destination for Immigrants (2006)

Demography

The City of Richmond, according to the most current Census that was released in 2006, shows that 57% of Richmond's population is made up of those who were born outside of Canada. Immigrants largely come from the countries of China, Philippines, Hong Kong, India, United States of America, and United Kingdom. The census has also shown that City Centre is the most popular destination for immigrants to live, with Broadmoor, Thompson and Blundell next in sequence. Since many Richmond residents are, or were, originally immigrants from a foreign country, "38.6% of residents indicated English as their mother tongue, 37.5% indicated Chinese, 3.9% indicated Punjabi, and 3.5% indicated Tagalog (Filipino)". These figures for the native language stay relatively the same for the language spoken at home in the City Centre area. In comparison to other areas, such as Gilmore, Steveston, Hamilton and Seafair, the percentage of those who speak English at home, is twice the number of those who live in City Centre.

According to the BC Stats, Ministry of Labour and Citizens' Services, the current population of Richmond recorded in 2009 is estimated at 193,255 and has an average growth rate of approximately 2% per year. As of 2006, City Centre makes up 22% of Richmond's total population and is also the area that has the highest population.

Overall, Richmond ranks 4th out of the fifteen cities and districts in Metro Vancouver that received immigrants between the years 2001 and 2006.

Transportation Infrastructure

Types of Commuting to Work [5]

Richmond experiences a high number of workers (approx. 30,000) leaving the city to go to work each day, and roughly the equivalent number commuting into the city to work. According to the 2006 Census, as found on the City of Richmond website, "for workers living in Richmond, the large majority (82%) drove to work by car, truck or van (including 9% as a passenger). 12% took transit, 4% walked and 1% bicycled to work." 56% of the employed population is employed within Richmond and the remaining 44% work elsewhere. With the introduction of the Canada Line, it has become the most preferred and popular form of transportation for those who are commuting to Vancouver because it takes only 23 minutes to travel from the Brighouse Terminus Station to the Waterfront Terminus Station. However, the statistical results of the number of people who have increased the use of public transit will be released in the 2011 Census that will be published in early 2012.

TransLink and Coast Mountain Bus Co. operate an extensive bus network throughout the city. Also, the Vancouver International Airport is located nearby on Sea Island. In sum, people living in Brighouse Village have many forms of transportation at their accessibility. Even though most people travel in an automobile of some sort, there is great potential for an increase in the number of people in Brighouse Village who walk as a form of transportation. This is due to the close proximity of amenities and services, which are the reason why this neighbourhood achieved a near perfect walk score (97/100). As mentioned above, the group that benefits the greatest from the Canada Line development is those who now have a greatly reduced commute time to downtown Vancouver.

Urban Form

Both No. 3 Road, which bisects Brighouse Village, and the prominent Richmond Center Mall, significantly impact the urban form of this neighbourhood. With the Canada Line reaching this area, there is a shift happening in the way that current and future development is being conducted. No. 3 Road runs through Richmond on a North-South axis and consists of four lanes where it travels through the center of Brighouse Village. In 2008 the City of Richmond embarked on the "No. 3 Road Restoration Project." The purpose behind this was to reshape the urban form of the areas next to this street, with the intention of creating, what they refer to as, a "Great Street." Currently this street is designed for an automobile dependent society. The purpose of this project is to create human scale design that promotes pedestrian and bicycle transportation, along with public transit. Also, it intends on creating public art and public spaces to encourage people to gather in these areas. Overall, this is a project with a $24 million budget, and many challenges ahead to overcome.

The Richmond Center Mall is located along No. 3 Road. It started as Richmond Square in the late 1960s, but gradually was reshaped in the late 1980s and early 90s into the Richmond Center Mall. It has grown to become Richmond's largest shopping and commercial district, containing more than 250 stores. This built infrastructure, along with many government services, such as: Richmond City Hall, Richmond Hospital, Richmond Public Library - Brighouse, RCMP Richmond Division, and the Richmond School Board. West of Richmond Center Mall is the Minoru Civic Complex, which contains a cultural center, arenas, sports fields, and a sprawling park, make up the core of Brighouse Village.

East of No. 3 Road consists of low-rise buildings containing businesses and services. There are also hotels, restaurants, and townhouses in the area. Near Garden City Road, there is a large amount of single-family housing, but that might soon change. With the Canada Line reaching Brighouse Village, the city is currently working on the redevelopment of the area. Similar to the No. 3 Road Restoration Project that the City of Richmond is working on, it intends on building this neighbourhood with density, sustainability, community, and culture in mind. Mixed-use medium to high-rise buildings will become a new urban form in this area.

What are the Issues?

Train loading passengers at Brighouse Terminus Station

There are many factors that are currently shaping cities throughout the world. Many of these are in reaction to the urban sprawl that started in the mid-twentieth century. This was a time of Fordism and Keynesian policies. The automobile was seen as the vehicle that would lead the world into the future. As it turns out, this has not been sustainable, especially for urban centers, where, incidentally, most people are living today. Along with the policy and planning systems of the past, people's values have been shaped from the design of our cities. For instance, many people have always used a car for transportation, and it will take more than a brand new Canada Line to change their ways. Brighouse Village has been impacted by many of the factors outlined below.

The key stakeholders involved in this transition of urban form, focused around the transportation infrastructure in Brighouse Village, are: City of Richmond, TransLink, Provincial and Federal governments, local residences, local businesses, tourism, and commuter traffic. According to Transport Canada, the cost of the Canada Line was $2.1 billion. Some of the issues related to reshaping the urban form and modernizing the transportation infrastructure, are detailed below.

According to Grant and Filion, “changing cultural values and practices have had significant effects on urban form over the last two or three decades. Demographic shifts induced some forms of urban innovation.” There exist innumerable issues that are related to these changes. These identified issues below show how Canada Line mitigates, intervenes, or contribute to the problems that Brighouse Village faces locally and the City of Richmond faces it as a whole.

Rapid Urbanization

There are now more people living in cities than in rural areas. Richmond and its surrounding areas are definitely no exception to this. The surge of people moving into Richmond Center is not forecasted to change, as the city of Richmond predicts that more than 100,000 people will move into its areas by the end of the twenty-first century. Since the introduction of the Canada Line in August 2009, many areas of Brighouse Village, especially along No. 3 Road, have been physically or symbolically transformed. This is due to the interest that the City of Richmond has to reshape the urban form of its "Transit Villages," one of which is Brighouse.

Due to the actual Canada Line track being elevated where it runs alongside No. 3 Road, there is an obvious visual obstruction to many residences and businesses. The City of Richmond has implemented a strategy to develop new residences and businesses that are aesthetically and functionally compatible with this style of urban form. This project seems promising, but will take a significant amount of time and tax dollars to complete. This is just one example of an obstacles to making a transition in Brighouse Village from a center of urban sprawl to an oasis of urban density.

According to William Rees, "more people will be added to the world's cities in the first three or four decades of the twenty-first century, mostly through immigration, than had accumulated on the entire planet by 1930." Within the area of Richmond, and Brighouse Village, this is further paired with the extraordinarily high rate of immigration.

Increased Immigration

Immigration levels in Canada are, and have long been, on the rise. As mentioned above, Richmond has the highest rate of immigration of all cities in Canada. According to Hoernig and Zhuang, "immigration is a major source of social transformation in cities across the country." Along with this transformation comes the challenge of meeting the needs concerning housing, language, culture, employment, and politics of all those who are impacted. In the long run, there is great potential for this diverse demographic to make Richmond a leading city. There is, however, a history of challenges for immigrants, whether it is related to equitable salary, underemployment, or discrimination.

Brighouse Village will face the challenge of designing a neighbourhood, and creating an economic and social demographic that properly meets the needs of the future waves of immigration to the area. With the increasing rates of immigration, and projected population growth to the area, in general, the city will continuously be required to improve its infrastructure to meet the needs of its citizens. The Canada Line provides an affordable alternative to the automobile, which enables people in Richmond to have access to employment and services throughout the Vancouver area. Now the challenge is to bring the other components of the city up to par.

Housing Costs

Due to the projection of a vast increase in population in the Richmond City Center area over the next century, the issue of housing affordability is significant. Studies show that real estate values next to transit stations, and also alongside transit lines, have historically gone up in value. Brighouse village, due to its proximity to the Canada Line, and other services and amenities, might experience an increase in the cost of living. Matched with hyper-urbanization, and a steady rate of immigration, this may cause the shifting or relocation of various groups of people within the area.

Housing costs are on the rise in Vancouver and surrounding regions. In fact, housing prices are on the rise in cities throughout Canada. As far as the situation in Richmond is concerned, according to a recent Vancouver Sun article, it is not the Olympics that has lead to the continuing increase in the cost of housing. The cost of housing is largely due to the influx of people who are moving into desirable areas. Brighouse Village is one of these areas, especially since the Canada Line development. According to Walker and Carter, "demand for housing continues to be high in expanding Canadian cities. Brighouse Village is expanding, and thus, so is the number of units needed to house the increasing population. According to Foth, besides private profit-motivated developers, the public sector has great interest in high-density Transit-Oriented Development (TOD). The city has outlined that it will look to build no higher than sixteen or so storey's, and will put a strong emphasis on sustainability.

Sustainability

Sustainability is a word that has been increasingly used with mixed or unclear connotations. Sustainability is most commonly used to signify environmental, or ecological sustainability, but it is also critical to see it as a concept that focuses on other relevant areas such as: cultural, social, and economic sustainability. The subject of sustainability has become an area of significant emphasis throughout the world, especially in the sectors of policy, planning, development, architecture, and academia. Sustainable development is a model that cities not only choose to comply with, but must, due to increasing amounts of pressure from various sectors. The Earth's resources are finite, and cities must not only attempt to conserve them, but must find a way to improve the present state of the environment. Due to the increasing pressures for cities to enforce green initiatives, the City of Richmond has "established sustainability as a corporate priority." Although this City's new method for design is pointed in the right direction, it must be accompanied by a strong awareness and education campaign about the challenges that will be experienced in this neighbourhood. According to Connelly and Roseland, Canadian cities have been making great efforts in sustainability projects, but "they do not address the political conflicts among environment, economy, and equity goals that are at the heart of sustainable cities." Brighouse Village has the opportunity to collaborate with various sectors to make a great impact on the environment, but as mentioned earlier, they will also have to deal with the value systems that are deeply entrenched in society. It is no longer optional for cities to implement sustainability initiatives, but is, in fact, mandatory.

Less Dependency on Automobiles

The influence of the automobile on urban form is highly noticeable in Brighouse Village. In fact, it is noticeable throughout North America and the rest of the world. One of the City of Richmond's key interests is creating as much of a "Car Free" city as possible. According to Mackett and Edwards, "the main purpose of building such [public transit] systems is to reduce car use, and so reduce road congestion and environmental damage." There are innumerable challenges involved when attempting to decrease automobile dependence. This is significantly due to the preferences and values of the individual, but it also relates to the cost of making a transition to new infrastructure. The transition from a city shaped by highways and parking lots to one that is shaped by public transit and bike lanes is going to take a significant effort for any planning office. Considering the increased emphasis on sustainability and 'Green' cities, there is increasing potential for this shift to occur. According to Filion and Bunting, "over the last decades, growing proportions of households have demonstrated a preference for core and inner-city living, where they enjoy public transit and walking access to a wide range of activities and, thus, reduced dependence on the car."

As mentioned above, the Canada Line has led to an increase in the volume of commuter and pedestrian traffic throughout the neighbourhoods that are home to its stations. Crowds of people move through Brighouse Terminus each day, especially during peak times in the morning and late afternoon. The City of Richmond has a strategy in mind, found in the City Center Area Plan (CCAP) that looks to design public areas that will accommodate these crowds, and will even attempt to draw people to this area for the purpose of creating an inclusive social neighbourhood. The challenge involves connecting two different eras of urban planning, design, and development. This area has been shaped by an automobile dependent society. In the future, the form of commuting carries the potential to motivate design that emphasizes public spaces, public art, and a place with attractive social capital.

Why This Area is Worth Analyzing

The Canada Line has brought convenience for much of the population living in and around Richmond, and is vital to the growth of the city as a whole. It is also important to recognize that various levels of government, along with TransLink and the Vancouver Airport Authority, worked together in constructing this near $2 billion dollar project. Since government revenues are collected through taxes, this essentially means that part of this transit system was funded by Canadians as a whole. Therefore, what makes the City Centre location worth analyzing are the combination of the issues laid out earlier, the positive impacts on the Richmond residents, the responses as displayed by the media and the need in recognizing potential impacts that may arise in the future.

Canada Line Route Map[6]

Positive Effects

The general goal of the Canada Line is to eliminate the congestion on roads by cars and buses, which it has improved in many ways through increased bus lines to service the flow of passengers departing the rail and merely providing an alternate form of public transportation. Most importantly, the Canada Line has significantly reduced the time it takes to travel from the center of Richmond to Downtown Vancouver. In comparison to the 98B Line that used to run from Richmond to Downtown Vancouver, which took on average almost an hours time, the Canada Line is able to compress the amount of time needed to travel the same distance. Therefore, the Canada Line has provided Richmond residents as a whole the ease of commuting to different areas of Vancouver. The significance of the terminus station of the Canada Line being located at Brighouse Village comes to show the importance and centrality of this area in the entire City of Richmond.

Public Responses Through the Media

Although these negative experiences by both commuters and residents of City Centre are focused more around the functional, logistical and social aspects, it is important to identify these issues in order to see how the Canada Line impacts people at the more local level. These current and prospective issues need to be assessed in order to recognize how the bringing in of a new transit system affects especially the demographic make up of the area near the Canada Line. It is also important to take note that because it is still a relatively new transport system, many of the issues surrounding the Canada Line are mainly local responses, which are expressed through the media.

Commuters waiting to board the bus

Public Dissatisfaction

When the Canada Line was brought into full service in August 2009, several bus lines that only ran during peak hours of the week were thought to be less crucial in relieving and redirecting traffic flow. As a result, the major bus lines 98B-Line, the 488 Garden City, the 490 Steveston, the 491 One Road, the 492 Two Road and the 496 Railway, which ran as express line during peak hours, were removed as of September 7, 2009. Since it was Labour Day, the effect of these changes did not take place until students returned to school and adults returned to work. Compensating for this loss, all buses that are still running around the city increased bus frequencies during the hours of 6:50 to 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 to 6 p.m.

Traffic on No. 3 Road at Saba Road

Noise Complaint

While increasing bus frequencies was implemented in order to transport commuters to and from the Canada Line in a timely manner, it also created an issue for residents who lived nearby because of the sudden increase of traffic on the road. On Saba Road at No. 3 Road, new bus stops were created in order to prevent road traffic during peak hours. However, because Saba Road was never a route for buses, aside from small community buses, in face of this new bus stop station, residents who live in the complexes on or nearby Saba Road find it extremely distracting during early morning and afternoon times, when there are the highest rushes of both road and pedestrian traffic and the noise coming from bus engines starting and the sounds from the bus coming to a stop. Some residents even note that the problem is not limited to only Saba, but in fact a "21-hour-a-day full-scale assault from the two bays,drive-stop-idle-start, on the entire stretch between No. 3 Road and Buswell." As of right now, it remains to be a bus stop location for the 480 UBC Brighouse line.

Snow Delay[7]

Dependent commuters meet a snow failure

While the city actively promotes and encourages people to use the public transit, recent snowfalls have definitely hindered that positive promotion of using the Canada Line in particular. Since the running of the Canada Line, the technology aspect of it has been running smoothly. Until the first snowfall encounter in November 2010 in which power lines were frozen due to snow on the track, with passengers stranded for up to three hours at the stations. The biggest breakdown yet, happened on January 12, 2011 due to another expected heavy snowfall. Transit was heavily criticized for not taking precautionary measures since the last breakdown of the Canada Line due to snowfall. The latter breakdown was due to a faulty piece of de-icing equipment, as responded by a spokesperson from Protrans, the company that operates and maintains the running of the line. Once again, passengers were left stranded at the stations while some had to result in other forms of public transportation. These incidents of the system breaking down because of weather conditions also shows the lack of communication between Canada Line and Protrans in providing confidence for commuters in relying on the public transportation system.

Potential Impacts

Although taking into consideration that the Canada Line has been a fairly new addition into the City Centre, the potential impacts it has on this neighbourhood needs to be recognized in order for plans in the future to consider the various successes and failures. One of the prevailing impacts is the notion that the Canada Line was built in anticipation for the Olympics and the success it had during the Olympics becomes over glorified. Hence, it is important to realize that the Canada Line is essentially built for the betterment for the city development as well as the everyday or occasional users.

Housing Affordability

Visible apartments on No. 3 Road and Saba Road

The issue of housing is often not brushed across as being irrelevant to the construction of the Canada Line. In fact, the Brighouse terminus station along with numerous bus terminals are situated within the boundaries of the City Centre neighbourhood, thereby having a large affect on many of the housing issues in the area. One point to note is that approximately 70% of the housing in City Centre is made up of apartment buildings because of its affordability for the large number of immigrants who choose to live here. The number of apartments is the highest in comparison to other areas of Richmond, which can largely be attributed to its' demographic make up of high immigration.

Average household income

As suggested from the table, people who live in City Centre have the lowest average income in comparison to all the areas in Richmond, which explains the number of apartments that are centrally located around this neighbourhood. The table itself speaks to both the demographic and housing make up of this area. As mentioned previously, since many new immigrants choose the location as of City Centre as a place of residence, they may be limited by only speaking their mother tongue language and therefore unable to compete in the higher waged occupations. These sets of data show that the housing issue will be a long-term issue as land prices become increasingly competitive because of the accessibility of public transit that is centrally located throughout City Centre.

Resolutions and Recommendations

First of all, and most importantly, this area is currently under transition, which makes it challenging to predict the outcome. From looking at other cities that have made significant changes to their transportation infrastructure, we can assume that this will significantly shape the urban form, and thus, the social capital within this area. Also, paired with the rising real estate prices in this area (and throughout Vancouver region) and the low minimum wage/salary in British Columbia, this will lead to a high cost of living, with an enhanced difficulty in finding adequate housing. One critical recommendation is that the citizens, commuters, and local players are included in the development process. Due to the fact that the various issues discussed earlier-sustainability, urbanization, immigration-being dynamic, public consultation will help keep both the citizenry and the public and private sectors informed about both the direction and manner in which to progress.

The future of the City of Richmond, and the advancement of its sustainability programs, is important for the quality of life of its inhabitants. The required changes should be taken gradually, with the voices of all stakeholders being heard during the process. As Kenworthy stresses, there must be "a strong, community-oriented sustainability framework for decision-making." Filion and Bunting allude to the fact that "an urban transition will require large expenditures to develop parallel urban forms that would be associated with alternative dynamics.” If we assume that Richmond falls under Donald and Hall's "Rapid-Growth Cities" category, it can be deduced that although there are various opportunities, the challenges are volatile. Overall, the challenges may lead to a further drawback from reaching a goal of sustainability in Brighouse Village.

There are many hurdles to be cleared before the true vision of this neighbourhood can be established. Of course, the true vision must come from the people who occupy the city, not just from those who make decisions from a distance. The City of Richmond's vision is "to be a “world class” urban center and the centerpiece of Richmond as it emerges to fulfill its vision of becoming the “most appealing, livable, and well- managed community in Canada.” According to a study by Mackett and Sutcliffe, Vancouver's SkyTrain development was found to be the most successful of the eight different cities that were studied (Miami, Sacramento, San Diego, St. Louis, Manchester, Sheffield, and Newcastle). The Canada Line development has similarities with that of the SkyTrain, but there it is still far too soon to determine whether or not it will emulate its success. Mackett and Sutcliffe indicate that factors that have influenced the success of the SkyTrain development are:

• Physical characteristics of the urban areas
• Socio-economic characteristics of the urban areas
• Route location
• Cost
• Operating policies
• Transport planning policies
• Urban planning policies

One of the recommendations of their study was to ensure that policy is implemented that will "help to create a public-transport friendly urban form with higher density development, and activity centers focused along the urban rail lines." Richmond, among other Canada Line stations, now faces the challenge of using Canada Line's popularity to follow through with their plans of creating a human scale transit village at Brighouse Village. One invaluable benefit is having the case study of the SkyTrain development so close to home.

References

Group Members: Serenade Yu, Munyeong Kim, Eric Schofield, Maryam Bux