{"id":6694,"date":"2016-04-20T07:30:25","date_gmt":"2016-04-20T13:30:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/?p=6694"},"modified":"2025-03-04T14:47:12","modified_gmt":"2025-03-04T21:47:12","slug":"breaking-the-grid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/2016\/04\/20\/breaking-the-grid\/","title":{"rendered":"Breaking the Grid: Edmonton’s City Beautiful Plan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Until around the mid-twentieth century, almost all subdivision\u00a0plans for\u00a0Edmonton were\u00a0conceived as a traditional grid\u00a0of\u00a0streets and avenues in cardinal directions. Apart from\u00a0earlier\u00a0river lot subdivisions<\/a>,\u00a0the 1912 Hudson’s Bay Land Subdivision broke this pattern\u00a0during\u00a0an optimistic boom time. Today its\u00a0vestiges are barely legible, yet\u00a0indelibly mark Edmonton with its\u00a0peculiar\u00a0diagonal avenues of\u00a0Kingsway and Princess Elizabeth. Once\u00a0perceived as a\u00a0progressive departure, what\u00a0remains today stand as an awkward testament to a bold plan compromised with\u00a0shifting circumstance.<\/p>\n

\"1912<\/a>
Redrawn 1912 Hudson’s Bay Subdivision Plan (click to enlarge)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Hudson’s Bay Land Subdivision of 1912<\/h2>\n

The City Beautiful Movement<\/em>\u00a0‘flowered’ in Canada\u00a0between 1910-1913, just as planning was being established here as a profession. The 1912 Hudson’s Bay survey\u00a0created by Driscoll and Knight constituted 1000 acres and at the time was ‘the biggest and most valuable tract of land ever subdivided in the Dominion of Canada’.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

As seen in following plans, the Hudson’s Bay Company sat idle with their\u00a0land\u00a0apportioned through the\u00a0Dominion Land Survey<\/a>, allowing an\u00a0appreciation of\u00a0its value over\u00a0the booming decade. The Town of Edmonton\u00a0began to surround the\u00a0large undeveloped tract raising both ire and encouragement of\u00a0city officials.<\/p>\n\n\t\t