Canadian Journal of Urban Research

Evaluating street safety for women in Halifax

Natasha Juckes — 2024-06-19

Factors that influence women’s perceptions of safety, and how these factors are spatially distributed in Canadian cities, are understudied. This case study determined key factors that affect perception of safety in Halifax, Nova Scotia. A survey asked participants to choose from a list of factors identified in empirical literature those that most positively or negatively affected their perceptions of safety. Media portrayal and stories from friends was a significant negative factor on perceptions of safety; presence of people on the street was the most important positive factor. A weighted multi-criteria analysis (MCA) created a proxy for levels of perceived safety across streetscapes, showing which streets are most likely to be perceived as safe or unsafe by women. Findings suggest that women feel safer when the number of people on the street is increased, which can be achieved through mixed-use areas.

Municipalities’ strategies to implement universal accessibility measures: A scoping review

Maëlle Corcuff — 2024-06-19

An accessible built environment is an important catalyst of participation. However, people living with disabilities face daily barriers to in their built environment. Many stakeholders are involved in the implementation of accessible built environment for all, such as municipalities. The implementation of such universal accessibility measures is therefore complex for municipal employees. Integration of such measures into regular activities requires individual (employees) and organizational (municipalities) change. Different implementation strategies are helpful to guide municipalities in the creation of tools and to facilitate the operationalization and implementation of the measures. The aim was to explore what are the implementation strategies used by municipalities to implement universal accessibility measures. To answer this question, (1) identified the different strategies used by municipalities in implementing universal accessibility measures, (2) explored the perceived influence of these strategies, and (3) identified facilitators and barriers to the use of the different strategies to implement universal accessibility measures. We conducted a scoping review following the PRISMA-SR guidelines. We analyzed the data according to the type of strategy and to the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR). Of 1328 articles identified by the search strategy, six studies met the inclusion criteria. The strategies were identified as dissemination, process, integration, or capacity-building strategy. Involvement of all stakeholders was the most frequently mentioned facilitator, while lack of awareness was the most reported barrier. The results show that there is no consensus on which implementation strategies are appropriate and effective to use in this context. Also, there are no measures of effectiveness of pre-post design of these strategies. This shows that implementation strategies in municipal context regarding universal accessibility are still in an exploratory phase. However, it is possible to make links with the different implementation domains of the CFIR. We also observed that the identification of facilitators and obstacles to implementation is important to identify needs and to better plan the different stages of implementation.

The effect of COVID-19 on public transit revenues in the City of Calgary

Wenshuang Yu — 2024-06-19

Using monthly public transit revenue data and a difference-in-differences strategy, we investigate the effect of the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic on public transit revenues in the large urban municipality of Calgary in Alberta, Canada. We find that COVID had the largest (statistically significant) impact on adult transit fare revenue, a smaller impact on youth fares, and almost no impact on low-income fares suggesting that youth and low-income transit pass users were less able to substitute away from or forgo public transit during the COVID shock, unlike adults. Reductions in transit services that occurred at the same time were more likely borne by youth and low-income transit users. To minimize service reductions and their inequitable effects, we argue that given municipalities have little financial power and flexibility, higher orders of government should provide transit operating funding during times of transit fare shocks.

Urban heat islands in transit-oriented development designated areas in a high-latitude city - Edmonton, Canada

Sandeep Agrawal — 2024-06-19

Transit-oriented developments (TODs), as a smart growth policy, have gained popularity as a way to combat the negative effects of urban sprawl. TODs are also purported to have both environmental and socio-economic benefits. However, little or no research exists regarding their environmental impact, specifically in high-latitude cities. This study aims to bridge the knowledge gap in the literature by analyzing the relationship between TODs and the urban heat island (UHI) effect, which is an environmental phenomenon that results in high temperatures in urban areas. We studied seven transit stations in the city of Edmonton, Canada designated as sites of transition to TODs, to determine the extent of UHI effects in TODs in high-latitude cities. Our results show a significant UHI effect in Edmonton’s TOD-designated (TODD) areas over the last decade compared to non-TODD areas. The variation was mainly linked to the reduced vegetation cover at the expense of increasing developments. Although non-TODD areas also experienced an increase in temperature, the rate of increase in land surface temperature (LST) and UHI effect was higher in the select TODD areas. Our findings suggest urban planners should consider UHI mitigation strategies such as preserving or increasing natural landscape as a key requirement to developing and designing the newly built forms in TODD areas.

Politics, housing and climate adaptation in Ottawa, Canada

Ruth McKay — 2024-06-19

This article reflects on a turning point in how Canadians respond to climate change. The article summarizes research on urban flood risk and resilience in the city of Ottawa. The research involved semi-structured interviews with municipal representatives and developers in Ottawa, and began with extensive background exploration on the politics of urban development and climate change. Our findings indicate escalating debates between key public and private stakeholders—the regulators and producers of housing—regarding approaches to protecting neighbourhoods from flooding. Debates stem from inconsistent pressures imposed (or not imposed) by the market, insurers, three levels of government, geography, differing time horizons and ambiguities in climate projections. Overall, stakeholders appear siloed in their responses to climate change, which limits opportunities to collaborate on geographically-specific and community-based flood resilience. The project increased our understanding of how private and public sector actors negotiate policies, guidelines, and regulations intended to improve the resilience of Ottawa neighbourhoods. Our approach is unique, as there is scant research to date on how the building industry in Canada is responding to climate change and flood risk. The research adds to the growing body of Canadian scholarship on urban development and climate change adaptation. Research results are of interest to municipal policymakers, urban planners, urban studies researchers, the development industry, financial institutions, insurers, and urban sustainability advocates.

Exploring park crowding across a metropolitan region using a GIS-based observational methodology: The case of six Greater Montreal parks

Victoria Jepson — 2024-06-19

Understanding how park configurations and equipment impact the ways people use parks can help create more appropriate park design in function of users’ needs. Research on parks in Canada tends to ignore how to empirically evaluate park crowding. In this paper, we put forward a GIS-based observational method to examine the notion of crowding in different types of parks. This methodological approach is applied to six Greater Montreal parks located in urban core and suburban neighborhoods that have different levels of accessibility. Our bivariate and visual analyses point to some determinants of park crowding, i.e., accessibility indicators (proximity and hectares per person), urban services near the parks (e.g., daycares), and park equipment. We show sports facilities attract all visitors, but a low presence of adolescents and seniors is observed in all parks. Urban core parks offer less passive activity infrastructure but have more diverse uses and crowding than suburban parks.