C
urbing sprawl and creating sustainable, dynamic and effi - cient communities have been among the central missions of
planning for some years now. While the conceptual approaches, design and vision may have evolved over time—from ecosystem planning to sustainable communities, new urbanism and smart growth—the implementation of these has relied heavily on vari- ous forms of regulation such as offi cial plans, zoning and site plan control. More recently, the importance of aligning investment in infrastructure and public resources with planning objectives has also been recognized.
There have been some resulting suc-
cesses on the ground, including several new urbanist communities, or higher levels of reurbanization in some cities. But these have been too few in number and not far- reaching enough to represent the substantial level of change that is needed to address current and future challenges. While the Canadian population grew by 45% between 1971 and 2001, the amount of urbanized land increased by 96%, indicat- ing that we are using more and more land per person.1
Critics point out that many new urbanist communities
don’t fundamentally alter the live-work relationship. More than just tinkering is needed to address issues such as rising oil prices, greenhouse gas emissions and global warming, food security, debt reduc- tion and environmental uncertainty. We need to create fl exible, aff ordable, sustain- able communities not just for the present, but also to avoid creating an entrenched and rigid urban form that evolves into a massive future liability. As outlined in my book, Perverse Cities,
upon which this article is based, what plan- ning approaches have not suffi ciently
recognized is that price signals are actively encouraging sprawl, and actually provide fi nancial disincentives to more sustainable alternatives. Sprawl has been subsidized, while effi cient forms of development over- charged. The powerful role of pricing, and more specifi cally, mispricing, has not been adequately addressed in most attempts to curb sprawl. While this fl aw has been long recognized in the literature (most notably by Wilbur Thompson in his 1968 article “The City as a Distorted Price System”), it has not been adopted as the critical path forward that it should be.2 Moreover, the mispricing under discus-
sion here is created by governments and their agencies—local, regional, provincial and federal—which are often the very enti- ties at the forefront of the sustainable community movement.
PRICES SHAPE URBAN FORM
Every day, Canadians make decisions about buying or renting a home, and choosing premises for a business, institution or gov- ernment offi ce. These decisions involve consideration of location within the city (centre, inner suburb, new suburb, exurb), the characteristics of the neighbourhood (walkable and mixed use or car-oriented),
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