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This paper uses the example of First Nations housing in British Columbia to explore how culturally legitimate community economies are being advanced to overcome the deficiencies of top-down, state-led housing efforts and market relations. Through the lens of the diverse economy, we highlight how First Nations community institutions can and do serve to oversee the utilization of territorial forest resources for the production and distribution of housing materials locally. The findings point towards First Nations communities navigating (often in latent ways) complex sites of decision-making through: ethical negotiations related to (de)commoditization; needs and surplus evaluation; and transactions and rules of (in) commensurability. While these examples appear to challenge the conventional logics of capitalist-market institutions, First Nations communities also must contend with the many structural barricades to change that exist within the settler-colonial institutional framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on a study of economic restructuring in the small, resource-based communities of Quesnel, Williams Lake, and 100 Mile House in British Columbia, Canada. Using survey data, the paper reviews three issues connected with household adjustment to local employment/economic conditions. The first concerns patterns of employment, and among the findings are that over half of respondents have experienced periods without employment income. The second concerns perceptions of change in local economic conditions. While recent public debates have highlighted significant regional economic pressures, the findings suggest that many respondents are still very optimistic regarding the economic vitality of their community. The final issue concerns whether residents are actively taking steps to respond to changing economic conditions. Findings suggest that while most households have engaged in educational and skills upgrading, there are potentially serious limitations to the future efficacy of some of these coping mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditionally dependent on extractive resource industries, communities located in peripheral regions of British Columbia are searching for economic diversification opportunities. Valemount, a small mountain community in central British Columbia, has recently attracted two large-scale resort development proposals. Based on a survey of local residents in Valemount, this paper examines residents' attitudes to tourism-induced socio-economic and recreational opportunities, and the future of tourism development. Linkages are explored between community attachment, community satisfaction, community concerns and tourism-related attitudes. Results indicate that the majority of residents are positive about tourism development. While resident satisfaction with current opportunities is low, and some residents are concerned about the negative impacts of tourism development, residents perceive that the potential benefits of tourism development outweigh its negative impacts. The positive reactions to tourism development should be seen in the context of declining importance of forestry and the lack of other economic opportunities. Research results serve as baseline information for monitoring resident attitudes in the future, and as a basis for initiating local level consultation processes for future tourism projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews the ideology of modernism in a North American context and discusses how its various attributes are embodied in the Surrey City Centre development in the Greater Vancouver area of British Columbia, Canada. In doing so, it makes use of Calthorpe and Fulton's tri‐partite framework of specialization, mass production and standardization as being characteristic of the ethos of the age. After analysing the various interventions that design professionals and civic agencies have made in the Surrey City Centre area, it concludes that modernist ideology has a tendency to foster placeless settings lacking in vitality, security and comfort and appeal for pedestrians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Vancouver Region is widely recognised as one North American jurisdiction where strong growth management plans and policies have been put in place in order to control urban sprawl. While many authors have lauded the region for its good planning intentions, there has been little in the way of assessment of actual performance. This paper attempts to identify some quantitative growth management goals that have been (officially and unofficially) espoused by planning authorities in the region, and to measure these against actual trends. The results are mixed: on the one hand, some key growth management goals adopted by the region are not ambitious compared with existing trends and even these goals are not being met. For instance, the supposedly compact scenario adopted by the region deviates hardly at all from existing growth trends, which regional planners had clearly identified as untenable and requiring drastic change. On the other hand, the region's goal of preserving extensive green areas has been achieved without being watered down during goal formulation or implementation. Whereas these findings may appear contradictory, they are not: conservation in the region has not compromised the potential for growth in the region—at least for the time being. The real test of regional growth management efforts will come in the near future when further expansion meets the 'green wall' on the periphery and NIMBY resistance against densification within existing urban areas. The study suggests that the current structure of regional planning, relying on a partnership between municipal and regional governments, has served the region fairly well in building support for the need for growth management and in elaborating growth management vision. However, there is serious doubt about the ability of this system to set ambitious growth management objectives and to see through the implementation of those objectives in the face of social forces attempting to preserve business-as-usual trends in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The community economic development (CED) framework has its roots at the margins of society but has gained a broader interest. This paper examines some key principles associated with the CED framework. Interviews with practitioners within three CED organizations in Vancouver resulted in themes that link CED as a strategy for sustaining a broader vision of the organizations. CED ventures provide opportunities that enhance the connection for marginalized peoples to participate in local community organizations. Yet, there are challenges around delivering services within an alternative framework operationalized within a market-based paradigm. Nevertheless, CED initiatives can have far reaching impacts beyond the individual and the organization. Indeed, CED is about networks of communities within communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]