Abstract

Problem, research strategy, and findings

As North American cities revitalize, policies generally assume high density will attract the childless, overlooking the needs of families with children. Here I examine the case of Vancouver (British Columbia, Canada), where since 1989 policies have explicitly supported parents in central densifying areas. Between 1996 and 2016, the city overall had a slight decline in children under 15. In contrast, the Downtown peninsula experienced a 171% increase for this age group, which is double the percentage increase for total neighborhood residents. In this research I ask how Vancouver parents perceive their central high-density neighborhoods in terms of childrearing. Through interviews and focus groups with parents from 39 families and 5 weeks of environmental and participant observation, I find that many consider amenity-rich, dense, diverse neighborhoods ideal. Some are committed to city living. Others are “won over” by the policy-provided amenities and well-programmed public realm. Limitations include potential biases in the sample and issues of policy transferability to other North American cities. I provide U.S. examples modeled after Vancouver’s policies to support the feasibility of policy translation.

Takeaway for practice

Other North American cities can promote dense family-oriented urbanism. Amenities achieved through policies concerning building design, community centers, parks, protected cycling, and pedestrian infrastructure directly contributed to the “won over” parents’ decisions to stay. By focusing on parents, planners can shift the downtown revitalization narrative toward family-oriented densification. Planners must consider the needs of diverse parents to avoid a class- and age-segregated city. Cities today have a fragile opportunity to build dense and diverse in both land use and types of residents. Central areas can be reconceived as ideal places for people of all ages, incomes, and life stages.

中文翻译：

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温哥华密集的以家庭为导向的城市主义中的忠诚和“胜过”的父母

摘要

问题，研究策略和发现

随着北美城市的复兴，政策普遍认为高密度将吸引无子女的人，而忽略了有子女的家庭的需求。在这里，我考察温哥华（加拿大不列颠哥伦比亚省）的情况，自1989年以来，政策明确支持了中央密集地区的父母。在1996年至2016年之间，该市总体上15岁以下的儿童略有下降。相比之下，市区半岛的这一年龄段的人口增长了171％，是所有邻里居民总人口增长百分比的两倍。在这项研究中，我问温哥华父母如何看待他们的中央高密度社区。通过与来自39个家庭的父母进行的访谈和焦点小组讨论以及为期5周的环境和参与者观察，我发现许多人认为设施丰富，密集，理想的多元化社区。有些致力于城市生活。其他人则被政策提供的便利和程序完善的公共领域“击败了”。局限性包括样本中可能存在的偏见以及政策向北美其他城市转移的问题。我提供了以温哥华政策为蓝本的美国示例，以支持政策转换的可行性。

外卖练习

北美其他城市可以促进密集的以家庭为中心的城市化。通过有关建筑设计，社区中心，公园，受保护的自行车和行人基础设施的政策所实现的便利，直接助长了“胜过”父母的住宿决定。通过专注于父母，计划者可以将繁华市区的叙述转变为面向家庭的致密化。计划者必须考虑到多样化父母的需求，以避开按阶级和年龄划分的城市。今天的城市拥有脆弱的机会来建立土地用途和居民类型的密集和多样化。可以将中部地区重新视为所有年龄，收入和生活阶段的人们的理想住所。