View Corridors, Access, and Belonging in the Contested City: Vancouver’s Protected View Cones, the Urban Commons, Protest, and Decisionmaking for Sustainable Urban Development and the Management of a City’s Public Assets

Sara Ross, “View Corridors, Access, and Belonging in the Contested City: Vancouver’s Protected View Cones, the Urban Commons, and Decision-Making for Sustainable Urban Development and the Management of a City’s Public Assets”, (2020) vol. 5 Journal of Law, Property, and Society 101.

38 Pages Posted: 19 May 2021

See all articles by Sara Ross

Sara Ross

Dalhousie University - Schulich School of Law

Date Written: October 31, 2020

Abstract

Majestic views of mountains, sky, and sea are essential components of the visual and experiential identity of Vancouver, Canada. The experience of these vistas supplements other urban realities, such as suffocating living expenses and inequality. This Article explores a recent example of urban contestation over Vancouver’s view corridors as a shared public resource and public asset. As this Article explores, exclusion from access to public assets that provide meaning to daily life — such as the mountain views in question — damage an urban citizen’s sense of identity and belonging in a city through a hierarchical experience of access and possession. Through the example of contestation over the management and preservation of Vancouver’s view corridors, and the digitally networked connective action and protest that resulted, this Article also engages the notion of the urban commons as a lens through which these urban contestations can be framed and situates the relevance of these questions of access of urban citizens to public views within the context of UN-Habitat’s New Urban Agenda and UNESCO’S “Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape.”

Keywords: New Urban Agenda, UNESCO

JEL Classification: K11

Suggested Citation

Ross, Sara, View Corridors, Access, and Belonging in the Contested City: Vancouver’s Protected View Cones, the Urban Commons, Protest, and Decisionmaking for Sustainable Urban Development and the Management of a City’s Public Assets (October 31, 2020). Sara Ross, “View Corridors, Access, and Belonging in the Contested City: Vancouver’s Protected View Cones, the Urban Commons, and Decision-Making for Sustainable Urban Development and the Management of a City’s Public Assets”, (2020) vol. 5 Journal of Law, Property, and Society 101. , Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3847490

Sara Ross (Contact Author)

Dalhousie University - Schulich School of Law ( email )

6061 University Avenue
6061 University Ave
Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 4H9
Canada

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