Urban sprawl in Canada is becoming a serious problem. Cities across Canada continue to expand their urban footprint and property taxes are rising above and beyond inflation – there seems to be a direct correlation between these two and there seems to be no end to this trend.
Statistics Canada recently released its post-2006 census population estimates for major Canadian CMAs (Census Metropolitan Areas). The estimates include revisions for the census undercounts, i.e. the estimated number of estimated individuals that didn’t partake in the 2006 Census. Canada now has six cities with a population of over 1 million inhabitants: Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa-Gatineau, Calgary, and Edmonton. Each one of these major Canadian metros is growing at different pace and most are continuing to experience urban sprawl and tax rate hikes beyond inflation.
Urban sprawl has become a significant issue in most major Canadian cities and is likely a major cause for our city tax hikes. When a city sprawls, the city’s got to pay for infrastructure to service these remote areas including sewers, roads, transit, garbage collection etc. So which cities are doing a better job of controlling sprawl?
The image above is a visual representation of the urban footprint of our Canadian 1M+ club and is produced from Google Maps’ satellite view (using a consistent aerial elevation). The images are not totally accurate, but are a decent representation of the urban footprint of our major metros. Based on these images, it is apparent that some cities are doing a better job of controlling urban sprawl than others.
Calgary and Edmonton are the most rapidly growing Canadian metros (from a growth % perspective). Calgary however seems to have a major urban sprawl issue – with 1.18M inhabitants, its urban map has clearly sprawled out further than its similar population-sized counterparts Ottawa-Gatineau and Edmonton. Ottawa-Gatineau’s greenbelt, which was originally implemented to control urban sprawl, has clearly contained the inner core of the city resulting in a dense inner city but has not prevented the emergence of distant suburbs such as Kanata, Orleans, and South Nepean (Barrhaven) from forming.
Vancouver appears to be doing the best job in controlling sprawl. High rise condos have led to a highly populated centre core that has greatly contained this 2.27M metro. Toronto clearly has the worst urban sprawl problem – with 5.53M in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area), the city’s boundaries continue to push further out in all directions. Recently, the Ontario Government implemented a new greenbelt around the GTA to protect environmental areas and curb the sprawl. This is probably a step in the right direction as GTA commuting times are growing exponentially resulting in a growing environmental problem. Further, the GTA faces an ever-expanding wish list of expensive infrastructure projects that will cost the Ontario tax payer big $ over the coming decades.
Montreal’s population growth has slowed dramatically over the last two decades likely in part due to the separation movement in Quebec which drove out major headquarters to Toronto and other metros. Once Canada’s most populous metro, population growth has resumed in Montreal and the city continues to face a major sprawl issue, The severity of Montreal’s sprawl has likely been curtailed over the last few decades by the confines of the island – the majority of Montreal’s population lives on an island which acts as a physical barrier to sprawl (similar to a greenbelt).
So which 1M+ Canadian metros have done the best at controlling urban sprawl? Here are my rankings:
1. Vancouver
2. Edmonton
3. Ottawa-Gatineau
4. Montreal
5. Calgary
6. Toronto
How can cities fight urban sprawl?
There are a number of ways to do it but here are some popular methods: denser inner city cores with more high rise residential buildings, higher development charges for suburban development, cheaper development charges for inner city development and proximity to public transit, strict enforcement of land zoning to prevent zoning amendments, cheaper property taxes in the inner city, and the implementation of greenbelts and environmentally protected areas surrounding our metro areas.
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/executive/archive/2009/10/11/canada-s-1m-club-who-s-got-an-urban-sprawl-problem.aspx
Urban sprawl in Canada is becoming a serious problem. Cities across Canada continue to expand their urban footprint and property taxes are rising above and beyond inflation – there seems to be a direct correlation between these two and there seems to be no end to this trend.
Statistics Canada recently released its post-2006 census population estimates for major Canadian CMAs (Census Metropolitan Areas). The estimates include revisions for the census undercounts, i.e. the estimated number of estimated individuals that didn’t partake in the 2006 Census. Canada now has six cities with a population of over 1 million inhabitants: Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa-Gatineau, Calgary, and Edmonton. Each one of these major Canadian metros is growing at different pace and most are continuing to experience urban sprawl and tax rate hikes beyond inflation.
Urban sprawl has become a significant issue in most major Canadian cities and is likely a major cause for our city tax hikes. When a city sprawls, the city’s got to pay for infrastructure to service these remote areas including sewers, roads, transit, garbage collection etc. So which cities are doing a better job of controlling sprawl?
The image above is a visual representation of the urban footprint of our Canadian 1M+ club and is produced from Google Maps’ satellite view (using a consistent aerial elevation). The images are not totally accurate, but are a decent representation of the urban footprint of our major metros. Based on these images, it is apparent that some cities are doing a better job of controlling urban sprawl than others.
Calgary and Edmonton are the most rapidly growing Canadian metros (from a growth % perspective). Calgary however seems to have a major urban sprawl issue – with 1.18M inhabitants, its urban map has clearly sprawled out further than its similar population-sized counterparts Ottawa-Gatineau and Edmonton. Ottawa-Gatineau’s greenbelt, which was originally implemented to control urban sprawl, has clearly contained the inner core of the city resulting in a dense inner city but has not prevented the emergence of distant suburbs such as Kanata, Orleans, and South Nepean (Barrhaven) from forming.
Vancouver appears to be doing the best job in controlling sprawl. High rise condos have led to a highly populated centre core that has greatly contained this 2.27M metro. Toronto clearly has the worst urban sprawl problem – with 5.53M in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area), the city’s boundaries continue to push further out in all directions. Recently, the Ontario Government implemented a new greenbelt around the GTA to protect environmental areas and curb the sprawl. This is probably a step in the right direction as GTA commuting times are growing exponentially resulting in a growing environmental problem. Further, the GTA faces an ever-expanding wish list of expensive infrastructure projects that will cost the Ontario tax payer big $ over the coming decades.
Montreal’s population growth has slowed dramatically over the last two decades likely in part due to the separation movement in Quebec which drove out major headquarters to Toronto and other metros. Once Canada’s most populous metro, population growth has resumed in Montreal and the city continues to face a major sprawl issue, The severity of Montreal’s sprawl has likely been curtailed over the last few decades by the confines of the island – the majority of Montreal’s population lives on an island which acts as a physical barrier to sprawl (similar to a greenbelt).
So which 1M+ Canadian metros have done the best at controlling urban sprawl? Here are my rankings:
1. Vancouver
2. Edmonton
3. Ottawa-Gatineau
4. Montreal
5. Calgary
6. Toronto
How can cities fight urban sprawl?
There are a number of ways to do it but here are some popular methods: denser inner city cores with more high rise residential buildings, higher development charges for suburban development, cheaper development charges for inner city development and proximity to public transit, strict enforcement of land zoning to prevent zoning amendments, cheaper property taxes in the inner city, and the implementation of greenbelts and environmentally protected areas surrounding our metro areas.
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/executive/archive/2009/10/11/canada-s-1m-club-who-s-got-an-urban-sprawl-problem.aspx
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