Abstracts
Abstract
Downtown revitalization remains a key priority for planners working in communities across North America. In small and mid-sized cities, downtown decline and disinvestment has been particularly noticeable, long affected by the patterns of suburbanization, and more recently, by the lingering effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. This study, based on a survey of planners working in British Columbia, evaluates the state of downtowns in British Columbia’s small and mid-sized cities. These findings highlight the strengths of downtowns as broadband availability, civic events and street-oriented retailed, whereas the most pronounced and common weaknesses are the absence of post-secondary institutions, high-density housing and frequent transit. The findings also illustrate that strengths and weaknesses vary across the cases, accounting for variations in city size and regional contexts. Additionally, this study highlights the prospects and impediments of downtown revitalization into the future, with six major impediments.
Keywords:
- downtown,
- small and mid-sized,
- urban planning,
- Canada,
- British Columbia
Résumé
La revitalisation du centre-ville demeure une priorité clé pour les urbanistes travaillant dans les communautés de l’Amérique du Nord. Dans les villes petites et villes moyennes, le déclin et le désinvestissement des centres-villes ont été particulièrement visibles, longtemps impactés par les modèles de suburbanisation et, plus récemment, par les effets persistants de la pandémie de Covid-19. Cette recherche évalue l'état des centres-villes situés en Colombie-Britannique, examinant leurs forces et leurs faiblesses, ainsi que les obstacles à la revitalisation des centres-villes. Les résultats suggèrent que les forces et les faiblesses varient selon la taille de la ville et la géographie, alors que les obstacles au changement au centre-ville sont communs dans toute la province.
Mots-clés :
- centre-ville,
- petites villes et villes de taille moyenne,
- aménagement,
- Canada,
- Columbie-Britannique
Appendices
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