Urban Sprawl In Canada

Although Canadians have a good reason to become designers of their own urban future, there are many leading negative effects on the environment. In fact, most of Canada’s population growth in recent years has been concentrated on four regions: British Columbia’s Lower Mainland and southern Vancouver Island; the Edmonton-Calgary corridor; Toronto’s Golden Horseshoe region; and the Greater Montreal area. Despite the fact that there was virtually no growth in the rest of the country between 1996 and 2001, the population of these four regions (where 51 per cent of Canadians now live) grew 7.6 per cent. The rate at which land was urbanized in these regions was even greater, sometimes double or more the population growth rate. This difference between the growth rates of people and the land they occupied defines urban

It consumes the farms, forests, wetlands, and prairies around cities. Sprawling development depends on cars and trucks to move people and goods, which results in more vehicles emitting pollutants into the atmosphere. Ultimately, these pollutants cause respiratory and other illnesses that are painful to individuals, costly to the health system and can lead to premature death. Urban Sprawl, because it requires so much automotive transportation, is heavily dependent on energy consumption from the fossil fuels that produce GHGs. But, sprawl does not have to be Canada’s urban future. It is possible to set boundaries around urban development, and within these boundaries, communities that combine homes, work, shopping, schools and all the facilities of modern urban life can be built. This will happen only through the concerted efforts of citizens to convince governments to change the planning rules and to make the necessary investments, especially in public transportation. With no doubt, citizens of Canada who understand the history of urban development can promote for strong cities surrounded by rich