Learning from Shaughnessy: The role of design guidelines in adjudicating community conflicts
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Authors
Alexander, Don
Issue Date
1998
Type
Report
Language
en
Subject
Alternative Title
Abstract
This report reviews the recent controversy involving "monster houses" in
the affluent Vancouver neighbourhood of Shaughnessy, and the evolution of the
"character zoning" known as RS-5. It evaluates the usefulness of this zoning,
and the process that led to its creation, from the vantage point of addressing
community design conflicts and compares it with other available options, such
as standard RS-1 zoning, RS-6, and neighbourhood design panels. The report
suggests that RS-5 has been quite successful in its goals, and that the collaborative
approach that produced it should be seen as a potential model for resolving
community conflicts. It offers further recommendations for protecting the
heritage and "sense of place" in existing neighbourhoods, and for extending
neighbourhood participation and strengthening pluralism.
The report also attempts to apply the lessons from this experience to the
task of reducing the "ecological footprint" of residential neighbourhoods. It
makes a number of recommendations regarding how this could occur, and
suggests that the full ecological impacts of residential neighbourhoods - along
with the issue of affordable housing - have largely been neglected in the debate
over design controls and yet are of equal, if not greater, importance.
Description
Citation
Alexander, D. (1998). Learning from Shaughnessy: The role of design guidelines in adjudicating community conflicts. Vancouver, BC: Social Change Institute.
Publisher
Social Change Institute