Welcome to Metro Vancouver Zoning research project! The project aims to assemble together the various zoning by-laws of the 21+ municipal governments of Metro Vancouver into a coherent whole. We’re taking on this task to better enable study of the effects of zoning on regional land use and development patterns, with a special focus on how zoning influences the supply of housing (both market and non-market). We will be assembling maps and reporting on various metrics relevant to the effects of zoning on building in Metro Vancouver down to the lot level, including:
- basic structure type allowed
- buildable square meters allowed
- number of dwelling units allowed
- number of bedrooms allowed
After assembling a holistic view of current zoning regulations, the project will attempt to trace historical changes in zoning regulations through time, working backward to the introduction of zoning bylaws to the region in the 1920s. We’ll also be attempting to integrate zoning data with land use data. We are committed to an open-access model of making this data available to users wherever possible. Check back in for more details soon!
The project is co-led by UBC Sociology’s Nathanael Lauster and MountainMath’s Jens von Bergmann. See the Full Team here. We are grateful to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) for providing funding and support for this project.