Situating the New Economy: Contingencies of Regeneration and Dislocation in Vancouver's Inner City

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to make an argument about the importance of geographical context and contingency in the emergence of the new economy within the inner city. Using a case study of Vancouver, it is suggested, fi rst, that its new economy has emerged precisely out of the peculiar trajectory of the city and is bound up with a staples economy, branch plant corporate offi ces, transnationalism, and mega-project orientation. Secondly, to illustrate the importance of situation and site, the paper focuses on two of Vancouver's inner-city locales: Yaletown, on the margins of the Downtown South, a former industrial and warehousing district now regarded as the epicentre of Vancouver's new economy; and Victory Square, the former commercial heart of the early Vancouver, for many years experiencing disinvestment and decline, but now on the cusp of a major revitalisation which threatens to displace long-established social cohorts.

Preventing the displacement of small businesses through commercial gentrification: are affordable workspace policies the solution?

“…In Lower Manhattan, cultural producers were viewed as risk-takers and catalysts for redevelopment, but their economic contributions were outweighed by the political power of real estate and the increasing presence of creatives was used to 'fuel more intense waves of gentrification' (Indergaard, 2009(Indergaard, , p. 1087. Such displacement has also been documented in San Francisco's SOMA (South of Market) district (Hutton, 2009a), in Hoxton, London (Pratt, 2009); and Yaletown, Vancouver (Barnes & Hutton, 2009). Zukin (2010) argues that the real estate industry exploits the notion of authenticity invoked by small-scale manufacturers, creative producers and artists, and explicitly uses it in marketing strategies to drive up real estate values, which forces out the original uses.…”

Downtown redevelopment and land-use regulation: Can planning policies discipline property development?

“…Only in exceptional cases (e.g., San Francisco and Toronto), have downtown plans sought to limit development and growth making local governments balk at compliance with market forces (Gad, 1985;Simmie, 1987;Keating and Krumholtz, 1991;DeLeon, 1992). In the late twentieth century, property-led development supported by market-driven modes of planning and the emergence of the 'post-corporate CBD' (Barnes and Hutton, 2009) fostered a shift from office and commercial development to residential and mixed-use development. Spurred by market demand and the support of city governments, under-utilized nonresidential space has been converted into trendy residential space and new condominium towers have outnumbered newly-built office buildings in many downtown areas (Fainstein, 2001;Heath, 2001;De Sousa, 2002;Beauregard, 2005;Birch, 2009;Rosen and Walks, 2014).…”

Community-company relationships in forest-dependent communities in northern BC: Assessing the local, sectoral, and theoretical implications.

“…Restructuring has worked to create post-staples economies characterized by 'new' and creative economies producing high value goods and services (Barnes & Hutton, 2009;Hutton, 2002). Many urban residents did not recognize the linkages between resource extraction in rural communities and the health of urban economies (Baxter & Ramlo, 2002;Bridge & McManus, 2000;Bronson, 1999).…”

“…A vivid example of this trend is the decline of MacMillan-Bloedel head-office staff from approximately 1000 to 80 between 1983 and 1999 (Barnes & Hutton, 2009). Vancouver's role as the administrative control centre for the forestry sector has weakened, relative to the past, as companies have downsized head-offices and moved them out of the province to places like New Zealand, the US, and Toronto (Bentley, 2012;Hutton, 1997).…”

“…This has occurred in part because communities have longstanding experience with the forestry sector and are amidst a built landscape dedicated to industrial forestry (Barnes & Hutton, 2009). In this respect, communities have developed expertise in resource industries, as they are located on the front lines of production.…”