Downtown Suburbia? Assessing the Development of a Suburban Mixed-Use Centre

Abstract

The development of regional town centres has been a priority for planners and politicians, in Greater Vancouver since the mid-1970s. The purpose of this report is to examine the historical development of Surrey City Centre and to look for quantitative evidence that either supports or problematizes the notion that it is becoming the region’s second “downtown”. The analysis assumes that urban development is a process driven primarily by economic demand. Concepts from neoclassical economics, urban geography and suburban planning are used to formulate the framework through which to compare the characteristics of a suburban mixed-use centre to those of a traditional CBD. In particular, the research seeks to apply principles derived from the monocentric model to study a suburban, polycentric context.