North Saskatchewan River Valley Communities Historical Study

Author : Michael James McGibbon
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (143 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book Citizen Protest in the Urban Planning Process written by Michael James McGibbon and published by . This book was released on 1984 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since the early years of this century, the City of Edmonton has shown a considerable concern for the use of the valley of the North Saskatchewan river, both as an environmental reserve, and for various parks and recreational uses. In pursuit of these ends, the City followed a policy of property acquisition in the river valley, on an occasional basis. However, at the same time a considerable residential use of the river valley was permitted in neighbourhoods on the river valley flats, in the centre of the city. These conflicting themes of development eventually clashed in 1981 when a draft area redevelopment plan bylaw was introduced to the public by the City of Edmonton. The plan proposed that all private property in the river valley be acquired by the City over a period of 15 years, and that this land be turned over to parks and recreational uses. This proposal incited an unprecedented opposition from an array of residents, both on the valley flats, and on the tops of the valley banks. Some of these residents formed an organization called the Society for the Preservation of the River Valley (S.P.R.V.), to coordinate and direct the residents' protests against the proposed bylaw. The purpose of this thesis is to determine how the residents of the valley neighbourhoods were able to organize themselves effectively to oppose the proposed land use plan. This opposition is characterized as a process of protest within the urban political system. Three avenues of investigation are followed. First, the extent to which the valley residents were actively involved in the organized opposition to the proposed bylaw is investigated, using responses to a questionnaire survey distributed to 190 river valley residents. Second, an attempt is made to determine if the particular segment of the residential population in the river valley that was responsible for the development and running of the protest against the proposed bylaw, possessed the characteristics of gentrifiers involved in a process of revitalization. Third, the protest tactics adopted by the S.P.R.V., in pursuit of their political goal of a change in the river valley policy, are described using information collected from minutes of meetings of the S.P.R.V., supplemented by data from interviews with community organizers, residents, and a review of newspaper articles. Additional information for the thesis was collected by reviewing historical sources such as Henderson's directories, fire insurance maps, civic and federal census materials, and various City of Edmonton planning documents. It is concluded that only a small proportion of the respondents were actively involved in the S.P.R.V. and its protest against the proposed river valley bylaw. However, a large number of the residents were motivated to become at least temporarily involved by attending one or two protest group or public meetings, or by writing a letter of protest; and the majority of residents, at the very least, passively supported the aims of the protest. The research also revealed that the development of an organized protest owed much to the presence of younger, white-collar and professional residents in the river valley communities. Finally, it is concluded that although the actions of the S.P.R.V. played a major role in thwarting the passage of the river valley bylaw, in the final analysis the change in the river valley policy was the result of the different composition of the Edmonton city council after the 1983 civic election; and that the protest and the election of a new kind of council reflected a general acceptance of the values of heritage conservation and neighbourhood participation in the development of plans.