Politicians, planners and policy makers can now be informed by forty years of comparative data on the changing attitudes of residents in the Metro Vancouver region thanks to the release today of the results of the 2012 Urban Futures Survey<\/a>. The Technical Report results can be downloaded\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0(pdf | 3.6 MB).<\/p>\n This is the third in a series of geographically specific research studies that measures\u00a0a number of issues important to residents across the Lower Mainland. Previous surveys conducted in 1973 and 1990 informed\u00a0the Livable Region Plan and the Choosing our Future program. The 2012 survey updates and enhances the information available about public attitudes and experiences of the population over three points in time.<\/p>\n \u201cI am not aware of any other urban region that has an extensive body of comparable information such as this available to aid the decision-making process.\u201d says Ken Cameron, former Manager of Policy and Planning for the GVRD (Metro Vancouver). Cameron was involved in the 1990 survey as well as the 2012 version. \u201cThe Vancouver region\u2019s success in becoming one of the most livable regions in the world was\u00a0accomplished through concerted efforts of regional and local governments over many years, decades, in fact.\u201d he said. \u201cIt is invaluable to have comparable data spanning nearly 40 years that can tell us what has changed\u2014and not changed\u2014in public opinion as the region has grown. The earlier surveys had an important impact on transportation and environmental policies, and the 2012 survey will undoubtedly offer a rich resource of information to planners and policy makers looking to the future.\u201d<\/p>\n A unique aspect of the Technical Report<\/a> is the comparison it provides with the results of earlier surveys. For example, provision of health care ranked 3rd in 1990 and 9th in 1973, while air pollution from industry was the top concern in both earlier surveys. This reflects the concerted action by government to improve air quality in the intervening years. Similarly, while preserving the natural environment was the most important priority for action in the earlier surveys, by 2012 it had dropped to 4th place, a result that could\u00a0be\u00a0attributed\u00a0to efforts by government to improve water quality through upgraded waste water treatment, to give priority to solid waste reduction and recycling and to protect the region\u2019s working landscape through creating\u00a0the Green Zone.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cMy entire life of experience in politics and community engagement has taught me that government works best when it responds to issues that are important to people,\u201d said Mike Harcourt, former Mayor of Vancouver, former premier of British Columbia and chair of PlaceSpeak<\/a>. \u201cThe 2012 Urban Futures Survey is a goldmine of information to help policy makers develop deep knowledge of the things that are important to residents of Metro Vancouver and to prepare appropriate responses.\u201d<\/p>\n The two earlier surveys were conducted by UBC professor, Dr. Walter G. Hardwick, through face-to-face and telephone interviews. This latest survey, led by Dr. Hardwick\u2019s daughter, was conducted online using PlaceSpeak<\/a>. \u201cPlaceSpeak was developed to conduct location-specific research on the internet\u201d, observed founder, Colleen Hardwick. \u201cIt would have been prohibitively expensive and time-consuming to conduct 1,500 interviews using the methods we employed in 1972 and 1990 so we needed to build a tool that would enable verifiable online place-based feedback.\u201d<\/p>\n The survey results are being posted in dynamic geoweb form<\/a> according to the following schedule:<\/p>\nThe Technical Report<\/h3>\n
About the Urban Futures Survey<\/h3>\n