Vancouver CBD fieldstudy.

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VANCOUVER CBD FIELDSTUDY

October 31, 2003

Conducted by: Alice Kim

Hypothesis: Different patterns of usages of land may be observed

within short distances of the central business district of Vancouver and

the patterns of change will vary depending on the distance from the

Central Business District. I believe studying this information and

comparing the data to relevant models of urban structure, the Burgess,

Hoyt, and Ullman/Harris models, will determine my hypothesis to be true,

or false. This information will provide me with useful information on the

depth and close strategic planning of the Central Business District of

Vancouver.

Introduction: This field study takes place in the central business

district area of Vancouver, B.C., Canada, in the year 2003. Vancouver is

located in the southwest corner of Canada in the province of British

Columbia, at about 49° Latitude and 123° Longitude, next to the Pacific

Ocean. It is surrounded by water on three sides and overlooked by

mountains. For a more detailed look at the Greater Vancouver region,

refer to Map #1. The city of Vancouver started off as a small city

dwelling on the sawmill and lumber industry around False Creek; which

was where the sawmills were originally located. Now-a-days,

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businesses in Vancouver do not revolve around industry, but more so of

providing as offices to the headquarters of forest products, mining

companies, national as well as international banks, accounting and law

firms, and recently expanded as a center for software development and

biotechnology. Also, Vancouver has become a major tourist destination,

possessing the famous Stanley Park.

By 1865, sawmills monopolized the industry in Moodyville,

present-day North Vancouver. During the 1870’s, the Burrard Inlet of

Vancouver was one of the busiest lumber ports of W. North America.

Fur-trading forts were established in this area, and small settlements

began to bloom. In 1858, gold was discovered in the Lower Fraser Valley.

This attracted many people to the area. A railway, the CPR, was built in

1885, and this helped shipping of natural resources, and made it easier

for trade. Soon, Vancouver became connected to the world through the

CPR (Empress of India). In 1914, the Panama Canal was opened, and

made Vancouver a very important port. Vancouver quickly spread to

engulf the south and east, which are Surrey, Langley, Burnaby, Coquitlam,

Richmond, and New Westminster, as of today. The PLVI (peak land value

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intersection) of Vancouver is located in the intersection of Georgia and

the Granville streets. And, the central core of the CBD of Vancouver is

believed to be situated in Robson Square; on the corner of Robson and

Howe street; it is three blocks concentrated with offices, restaurants,

shops, and theatres.

The three streets I have analyzed for my study, are Granville,

from Robson to Smithe, east side, Richards, from Nelson to Helmcken,

east side, and Homer, from Helmcken to Davie, east side, front and back.

For a detailed view at the location of these streets in accordance to the

other streets of the city of Vancouver, please refer to Map #2. The City

of Vancouver is a fairly large city with a population of approximately

582,045 (year 2001), and the largest cohort, which is 35%, is between

the ages of 25-45. Also, Vancouver is very cosmopolitan, thus it is

multilingual and multicultural. After English and Chinese, the most

common mother tongue languages are Punjabi, German, Italian, French,

Tagalog (Filipino), and Spanish. The City of Vancouver possesses a wide

range of different businesses; from clothing boutiques, specialty fashion

stores, large department stores, restaurants, entertainment venues, to

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offices, and banks.

Methods of the Data Collection: To obtain the data of the types of

businesses in each of the buildings of the streets, I walked down the

streets and recorded all of the names of the businesses I saw. With this

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knowledge, I was able to analyze the differences of businesses, and

compare the differences on each of the streets to find out the purposes

each individual street serves. Figure one shows that Homer Street has

the most businesses, but most of them are offices. Richards Street has

very few businesses, and is mostly a residential area with a lot of

construction (refer to figure two). Granville Street serves a very

different purpose. Granville has eighteen businesses, of which are all for

entertainment or shopping purposes ...

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