{"id":1767,"date":"2013-08-13T07:30:45","date_gmt":"2013-08-13T13:30:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/?p=1767"},"modified":"2013-08-12T23:45:51","modified_gmt":"2013-08-13T05:45:51","slug":"space-and-growth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/2013\/08\/13\/space-and-growth\/","title":{"rendered":"Space and Growth"},"content":{"rendered":"

Growth is largely considered to be a good thing; undoubtedly it\u2019s better than shrinking.\u00a0 Detroit was once a city of 1.8 million; today it\u2019s a bankrupt city of 700,000.\u00a0 If you have the choice, shrinking is not the way to go. However, growth is not a plan in itself.<\/p>\n

According to the City of Edmonton website, in 2012 Edmonton had a population of 817,498 and a land area of 699.8 square km.\u00a0 This means that currently the population density of Edmonton is about 1168 people per square km. This is a very low level of density. \u00a0Compare this to Vancouver with 603,000 people in 115 square kilometres for a density of 5,243 people per square kilometre.\u00a0 Even Winnipeg with 663,000 people in 464 square kilometres has a density of 1428 people per square kilometre.<\/p>\n

Edmonton is a very spread out city, making it a very expensive city to maintain.\u00a0 All of this space means Edmonton has more kilometres of roads, sewers, water mains, etc, than other cities with comparable populations.\u00a0 In spite of this very low density, Edmonton continues to grow outward, and recent bids for annexation will likely provide a steady supply of land for single family homes and their accompanying commercial power centres. \u00a0So far we\u2019ve been managing to continue on this path, but where will this growth eventually bring us?<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s do a little thought experiment and see what might happen, assuming we carry on doing exactly what we\u2019re doing now with a modest growth rate of 2% per year. By the year 2043 the population of Edmonton would be 1.5 million and, assuming we continue with similar density levels, the area of Edmonton will have stretched to 1,293 square kilometres.\u00a0 Now is this possible? Yes, of course it is.\u00a0 At this point Edmonton will have swallowed St. Albert, Sherwood Park and Leduc.<\/p>\n

There will be some problems, though. Then as now, there will be no cost effective way to move so many people around so large an area via public transit.\u00a0 More people will travel on the LRT, but the vast majority of people will still drive as it will continue to be more convenient for most trips. But traffic is going to be a big issue. Beyond the completion of the Anthony Henday, there are no plans for any new expressways.\u00a0 This means there will be nearly twice as many people, driving further, being funnelled onto longer versions expressways we have now.\u00a0 This is going to be unpleasant.<\/p>\n

\"Rush
Rush hour on 109 Street in Edmonton. \u00a9 Tom Young 2013<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Now let’s go a little further into the future.\u00a0 Where are we in 100 years?\u00a0 It sounds like a long time from now. \u00a0You\u2019ll probably be dead, but your grandkids might not be. \u00a0Where does this place us in the year 2113?\u00a0 At 2% growth a year the population of Edmonton will be 6 million people.\u00a0 At the current level of density Edmonton would be 5,172 square kilometres in size.\u00a0 This is four times the area of present day Los Angeles! \u00a0The province of Prince Edward Island is only 5,660 square kilometres!\u00a0\u00a0 How will people afford to drive around a city like that?\u00a0 What\u2019s gas going to cost in 2113?<\/p>\n

Edmonton is going to keep on growing but it can\u2019t keep growing the way it has, at least not long term. If Edmonton wants to accommodate more people it\u2019s going to have to have to start packing more into less space.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Growth is largely considered to be a good thing; undoubtedly it\u2019s better than shrinking.\u00a0 Detroit was once a city of 1.8 million; today it\u2019s a bankrupt city of 700,000.\u00a0 If you have the choice, shrinking is not the way to go. However, growth is not a plan in itself. According to the City of EdmontonContinue reading “Space and Growth”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8173,"featured_media":1866,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16,17,27],"tags":[76,122,124,115,125,123],"class_list":["post-1767","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-housing","category-infrastructure","category-traffic","tag-edmonton","tag-growth","tag-sustainability","tag-traffic-2","tag-transportation","tag-urban-form"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSpace and Growth - Spacing Edmonton<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/2013\/08\/13\/space-and-growth\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Matt Kleywegt\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/2013\/08\/13\/space-and-growth\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/2013\/08\/13\/space-and-growth\/\",\"name\":\"Space and Growth - Spacing Edmonton\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/2013\/08\/13\/space-and-growth\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/2013\/08\/13\/space-and-growth\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2013\/08\/map.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-08-13T13:30:45+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/#\/schema\/person\/34a03734bc2ed36f75b9e1ef394626c3\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/2013\/08\/13\/space-and-growth\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/2013\/08\/13\/space-and-growth\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/2013\/08\/13\/space-and-growth\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2013\/08\/map.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2013\/08\/map.jpg\",\"width\":1221,\"height\":906},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/2013\/08\/13\/space-and-growth\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Space and Growth\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/\",\"name\":\"Spacing Edmonton\",\"description\":\"Canadian Urbanism Uncovered | Edmonton Architecture, Urban Design, Public Transit, City Hall, Parks, Walking, Bikes, Streetscape, History, Waterfront, Maps, Public Spaces\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/#\/schema\/person\/34a03734bc2ed36f75b9e1ef394626c3\",\"name\":\"Matt Kleywegt\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0e58ab0dd241909340a083b985652ab6?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0e58ab0dd241909340a083b985652ab6?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Matt Kleywegt\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/author\/mattkleywegt\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Space and Growth - Spacing Edmonton","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/2013\/08\/13\/space-and-growth\/","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Matt Kleywegt","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/2013\/08\/13\/space-and-growth\/","url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/2013\/08\/13\/space-and-growth\/","name":"Space and Growth - Spacing Edmonton","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/2013\/08\/13\/space-and-growth\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/2013\/08\/13\/space-and-growth\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2013\/08\/map.jpg","datePublished":"2013-08-13T13:30:45+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/#\/schema\/person\/34a03734bc2ed36f75b9e1ef394626c3"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/2013\/08\/13\/space-and-growth\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/2013\/08\/13\/space-and-growth\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/2013\/08\/13\/space-and-growth\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2013\/08\/map.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2013\/08\/map.jpg","width":1221,"height":906},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/2013\/08\/13\/space-and-growth\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Space and Growth"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/#website","url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/","name":"Spacing Edmonton","description":"Canadian Urbanism Uncovered | Edmonton Architecture, Urban Design, Public Transit, City Hall, Parks, Walking, Bikes, Streetscape, History, Waterfront, Maps, Public Spaces","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/#\/schema\/person\/34a03734bc2ed36f75b9e1ef394626c3","name":"Matt Kleywegt","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0e58ab0dd241909340a083b985652ab6?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0e58ab0dd241909340a083b985652ab6?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"Matt Kleywegt"},"url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/author\/mattkleywegt\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1767","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8173"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1767"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1767\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1897,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1767\/revisions\/1897"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1866"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1767"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1767"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1767"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}