Enhancing Intergovernmental Cooperation on Metro Vancouver’s Regional Growth Strategy: The Case of Non-Urban Lands

Metro Vancouver’s Regional Growth Strategy (RGS) is a regional plan that sets out how the region will to accommodate urban growth in the next 25 years, while protecting some lands from urban development. Although the agreement has been adopted by all member municipalities in the region, some municipalities may choose not to implement certain aspects of the RGS. Furthermore, Metro Vancouver’s limited ability to enforce the regional plan presents challenges of uncoordinated planning by local municipalities, which may exacerbate the growing pains of urban sprawl, car dependence and urban encroachment of green space. This capstone study uses a literature review, interviews and case studies to analyse the challenges of regional cooperation and potential opportunities to encourage compliance on the RGS. This study identifies and evaluates a series of policy alternatives to better protect Non-urban lands from development before concluding with a final recommendation for moving forward on this policy issue.