ABSTRACT

Vancouverism – amenity-rich neighbourhoods comprised of thin residential towers set on street-defining podiums – has been globally promoted as a new model of urbanism: high-density yet livable, even for families with children. Boosters claim profitable sustainability on a human scale; critics decry a sanitized elite vertical suburb. Lost in these debates is the little-known history of how this foundationally low-density city – where the single-family detached home dominated both the landscape and policy – became an international symbol of livable density. This history starts with a single confined mid-rise apartment zone in the 1920s designed to protect the majority detached-home city. In the 1950s policy promoted towers for childless professionals to bolster the tax base. Negative public reaction to the towers led to the election of an anti-density, yet anti-highway city council in the 1970s. Ironically, a cancelled highway spurred the council to build moderately-dense equitable family housing near downtown. After residents reported a desire for higher densities, Vancouverism was born.

摘要

温哥华主义 - 由设置在街道定义裙楼上的薄住宅楼组成的便利设施丰富的社区 - 已在全球推广为一种新的城市化模式：高密度但宜居，即使对于有孩子的家庭也是如此。助推器声称在人类规模上具有盈利的可持续性；批评者谴责经过消毒的精英垂直郊区。在这些争论中丢失了鲜为人知的历史，即这座基础低密度城市如何成为宜居密度的国际象征——单户独立式住宅主导了景观和政策。这段历史始于 1920 年代一个封闭的中层公寓区，旨在保护大多数独立式住宅城市。在 1950 年代，政策为无子女的专业人士建造了塔楼以加强税基。公众对塔楼的负面反应导致在 1970 年代选举了一个反密度但反高速公路的市议会。具有讽刺意味的是，一条被取消的高速公路促使市议会在市中心附近建造中等密度的公平家庭住房。在居民报告对更高密度的渴望之后，温哥华主义诞生了。