Case. Prince George: Planning for Low Growth

Upon arrival in Prince George, British Columbia, a visitor is likely to first notice its industrial developments.  The pulp mills, rail yards, and supporting industries are some of the most prominent features of the City, which make Prince George typical of many cities and towns in rural British Columbia.  Visitors will also notice the requisite ‘big box’ store developments, casino, golf courses, and chain restaurants, which make the City typical of most cities in North America.  What visitors may not notice immediately, but will come to appreciate if they stay long enough, is a healthy network of social, arts, and cultural activities.  Yet, what is least obvious is how the City arrived at its present state.  While the proximity to the Nechako and Fraser rivers suggests why the City is located where it is, the current pattern of development seems to defy many principles of good urban design.

Map 1.  Prince George located in the Regional District of Fraser-Fort George

In the early twentieth century, the few permanent residents of European ancestry were employees of the Hudson Bay Company.  During this time, the modest settlement of Fort George served as an important fur trading post.  This settlement would be permanently changed when it was discovered that the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway would be travelling through Fort George, an announcement that set off a flurry of land speculation and development in the area.  From here forward for Prince George, like other settlements of the North American West, “[n]othing could be further from the truth than the notion that Western towns originated as spontaneous crossroad hamlets that grew slowly, incrementally, and randomly, without guidance of direction.”  To the contrary, Prince George is the result of numerous efforts to guide and restrict growth.

Notwithstanding numerous planning initiatives to fulfill its destiny as B.C.’s “northern capital,” Prince George has not achieved most of its predicted growth scenarios.  This shortcoming has presented significant difficulties to direct growth and development throughout its history.

Map 2. Traditional territory of the Lheidli T’enneh (unceded)

First Townsites

The first townsite plans (Figure 1) at the confluence of the Nechako and Fraser rivers were registered in 1909/10 by a group of investors known as the Northern Development Company.  The new townsite was called South Fort George.  Nearby, a competing townsite called Central Fort George was being built by another investment group, the Natural Resources Security Company, who promoted Central Fort George as having huge development potential.  The townsites of South and Central Fort George were home to roughly 1,500 residents and thousands of temporary construction workers who worked in the region.^[2]

Figure 1.  Map of early townsites and Fort George Indian Reserve in 1910

All the while, the influential Grand Trunk Pacific Railway was moving ahead with its plans for another townsite.  Grand Trunk solicited the federal government for purchase of the Fort George Indian Reserve lands.  After extended rounds of negotiations, and highly questionable tactics, the dispossession of the Reserve lands to the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway was completed in 1912.^[3] Building at this third townsite commenced the following year.  Following the announcement that the train station would be located within Grand Trunk lands, the newest townsite was incorporated in 1915 as the Town of Prince George.  Figure 2 shows an early image of the new town.

Early Development

When the first train arrived in 1914 there was already sufficient investment in the regional forestry industry to ensure prosperity for the area.  At the peak of speculation, the greater Fort George area boasted fourteen completed subdivision plans, equalling roughly 22,800 lots in the three separate townsites.

For the two original townsites, over two-thirds of the subdivided lots had gone undeveloped, and much of this vacant land was abandoned by its owners and reverted back to the provincial government.  Although South Fort George managed to maintain a small population, Central Fort George was eventually completely deserted.  Meanwhile, the Town of Prince George had quickly established itself as the industrial and administrative capital of Northern BC.

The War Years

During the war years from 1941-45, Prince George’s population expanded from roughly 2,000 to 3,800 people; an annual increase of 18%.^[4]  Many of the new migrants were attracted by the expanding forest industry and the increased provision of services.  However, due to wartime lumber restrictions, much of the new development was poorly constructed and without basic sanitary infrastructure.  Adding to these woes in 1942, Prince George “was to be invaded and literally taken over by one of the largest army camps in Canada,” with roughly 10,000 soldiers temporarily taking residence in the bustling town.^[5]

Gaining Control of Development

The post-war era was the start of a long period of sustained population growth for Prince George.  As illustrated in Chart 1, from 1921 to 2021, average annual growth in the City of Prince George outpaced that of a prospering British Columbia at times, although the pace of growth fluctuated wildly.  As noted below, several of the population increases were due to expansion of municipal boundaries, thus encompassing the population of rural areas.  As the City expanded both demographically and economically, so too did the challenges of managing growth, with low-density, haphazard development spreading beyond the Town of Prince George into South Fort George, the former Central Fort George, and surrounding areas.

To accommodate the influx of new residents who were arriving at an accelerating pace in the 1950s and to deal with the increasingly dilapidated and disorganised cityscape, the City recognised that some form of land use planning was required.  Subsequently, this need was addressed in several capacities, including the following:

• creation of the first zoning bylaws;
• formation of a Town Planning Commission;
• westward expansion of municipal boundaries in 1953-56; and,
• southern expansion of municipal boundaries in 1958.

Chart 1.  Population Growth and Average Annual Growth (%) in Prince George and British Columbia: 1921-2021

As well, in 1957, in order to gain more control over development, Prince George acquired the land rights to all undeveloped parcels within city limits from the Province, who still owned large tracts of land following the initial subdivision boom.  The effectiveness of this bold strategy is well illustrated by Desmond Parker, the City’s de facto planner from 1957-75, who reflects:

By implementing a wise policy of containment, made possible by the public ownership of land, the City has forced development into the previous lower density areas and achieved a saturation of existing services. The shortage of land and the definite policy of inhibiting premature subdivision, coupled with the rapid growth of the community, have brought about a natural renewal.^[6]

This “natural renewal” was a form of control over development.  Having gained an upper hand, the City approved three new subdivisions between 1958 and 1965:  Seymour, Spruceland, and Highland.  These subdivisions were developed as urban infill and also eschewed the monotony of gridiron subdivision for the aesthetics of neighbourhood design.

Each new subdivision was planned to function as a self-contained neighbourhood complete with commercial and educational services within reasonable distance of all housing units.  The neighbourhood concept was such a success that, thereafter, the City required all private developers to incorporate neighbourhood-level planning into subdivision proposals.  The influence of this planning policy is evident by the College Heights neighbourhood established in the mid-1970s.

Great Expectations

In the late 1960s, due in part to the establishment of three new pulp mills, Prince George (pop. 25,853) was Canada’s fastest growing city with an annual average population growth of 15.3%.^[7]  During this period the city completed some progressive land use planning including additional boundary expansions, the creation of a new zoning bylaw (1967), and an Official Community Plan (OCP) (1969).  However, the growth that was taking place outside city limits along the Hart Highway and North Nechako Road severely compromised on-going efforts to develop a comprehensive plan.  In 1969, the population of these so-called “rural slums” was estimated to be around 10,000.^[8]

The Regional District of Fraser-Fort George (RDFFG) was established in 1969, consisting of eight Electoral Areas (from A to H), as shown in Map 4.  The Regional District adopted its first Official Regional Plan in 1972; each Electoral Area has an OCP.  These steps helped to improve rural building and development standards.  At this time, the greater Prince George area was projected to have a population range anywhere from 325,000 to 470,000 by the year 2000.^[9]  To accommodate these projections, the Region’s Official Regional Plan supported the development of three ‘satellite towns’ directly abutting the ‘urban core’ of Prince George, thus supporting rampant subdivision development in the surrounding areas.  By 1974 the estimated population outside City limits had increased to roughly 25,000.^[10]

The Regional District’s plan for a “Greater Prince George,” ambitious even in its day, was abandoned in 1974 after the City’s newly created Planning Department proposed a very aggressive boundary extension.^[11]  The expansion would incorporate large areas beyond the “bowl” to include South Fort George, Peden Hill, Cranbrook Hill, College Heights, Beaverly, Blackburn, North Nechako, and the Hart.^[12]  The effect was to bring the adjacent rural populations within City limits, and more than double the City’s population to over 60,000 people.  This form of multi-municipality restructuring took place within a provincial initiative that also guided restructuring in Kamloops, Kelowna, and Nanaimo.  In Prince George, although the restructuring was mandated by the province, local politicians supported the action.^[13]

While this strategy was initiated by the Province of British Columbia^[14] and supported by the City of Prince George and the majority of city residents, it was vehemently opposed by rural landowners and developers who (correctly) feared increased taxation rates and development regulation.  This divided support was reflected in a referendum, which saw the plans for restructuring narrowly pass by 55.3% in the vote held on November 2, 1974.^[15]  Save a few minor adjustments, the form of present day City of Prince George and Regional District of Fraser-Fort George had been established.

Coming to Terms

What followed was a series of public hearings that served to intensify the conflict between the City and some members of the development industry.  Critics of the plan focused upon the liberal allocation of greenspace within the Hart area and the phased development designations that would greatly restrict rural expansion until a future date.  Despite significant efforts to incorporate public input, the City was nonetheless accused of “trying to stifle free-enterprise by forcing a community plan down residents’ throats.”^[16]  As reported in the same newspaper article, the prevailing attitude of the opposition is perhaps best illustrated by the sentiment of a local land dealer who declared in a public hearing, “We should be planning for today…not for tomorrow.”

By 1980, the City had gained control of growth in greater Prince George.  Unfortunately, the previous 40 years of growth outside of the city limits, with insufficient planning and development controls, had resulted in a very dispersed urban form outside of the bowl area.…[The] City was now responsible for providing and improving the services and amenities to these areas, and in dealing with the numerous functional problems associated with poorly coordinated and organized development.^[18]

In 1981, Prince George had a population of 67,559, which made it the second largest city in BC behind Vancouver and ahead of Victoria (population 64,379).  This height of development marked the end of the City’s era of unprecedented growth.  What followed represented a new chapter in the life of the City full of completely different challenges.

Sprawl and Stagnation

The new City plans were clearly focussed on managing growth, with a projected population of 98,500 by 1991.  As stated in the OCP, “[T]o accommodate the projected growth, very large areas were designated for residential development and extensive tracts were shown for industrial use.”^[19] Subdivision developments in the newly incorporated areas continued with an all-but exclusive emphasis on single-family dwellings, which is a source of the ‘urban sprawl’ that we see in Prince George today.  However, while the City was sprawling, its economy was shrinking.  “It is somewhat ironic that once the City of Prince George became able to properly plan for its future growth, the province would be subject to an economic recession that would last over ten years, resulting in little or no growth” in the city.^[20]

In the early 1990s, the construction of a new courthouse, civic centre, and the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) breathed new life into the City, as many heralded the dawn of a new era for Prince George.  There were modest gains in population and housing starts, although not close to the fever pitch of the ‘boom era’.  Meanwhile, the outdated population projections of the 1979 OCP were discarded in favour of a new plan in 1993.  The 1993 OCP was considered a significant change in the City’s approach to growth management and guided by the following projections and principles:

• a moderate growth rate (1 to 1.5%) based upon shortened projection timeframes (15 years);
• the introduction of a “potential future development” designation (F) to replace the extravagant industrial allocations contained in the 1979 OCP;
• a recognition of Prince George’s increasing reliance on a service-based economy;
• a five-year phased development designed to increase infill development, specifically focused upon multi-family residential.^[22]

In addition, the 1993 OCP espoused tenets of winter city infrastructure and aesthetics, healthy communities, and sustainability.  These ideals were promoted even further in the 2001 OCP, whose vision statement expanded upon ideals of environmental stewardship, social responsibility, economic diversity, and public participation.  Perhaps more tangibly, the 2001 OCP formally recognised growth management as a planning priority, dedicating an entire chapter to principles and policies intended to achieve a vision of “concentrated growth.”  One such policy involved the creation of a long-term Urban Development Boundary, shown in Map 3, that spatially delineated the maximum allowable extent for future development.  Unfortunately, hindsight has suggested that the seemingly progressive policies contained within in the 2001 OCP have “not prevented any development that wanted to happen.”^[23]

Map 3.  Urban Development Boundary for City of Prince George, BC

The Prince George of the early twenty-first century is focussed on economic development and downtown revitalisation.  Economic development has been moving forward in the face of the long-term effects of the Mountain Pine Beetle epidemic, the crisis of the global financial system, the collapse of the U.S. housing market, and COVID.  Tapping into the global transportation system is the catalyst for airport expansion and its related developments, including construction of the boundary road and industrial development.