The relocation of residents displaced from the Rose-Blanshard renewal scheme in Victoria, British Columbia
Date
1970
Authors
Robertson, Robert Wayne
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Abstract
The relocation of eight-two displaced households was investigated to determine some of the changes brought about by Victoria's Rose-Blanshard urban renewal scheme. The foci of concern were the subsequent pattern of relocation sites, the changes in housing characteristics, and the relationship of these site and housing changes to the socio-economic characteristics of the households. The city's pre-renewal welfare survey provided socio-economic data on all the project area residents, while post-relocation data consisted of the results of a survey of relocation housing conditions, as well as the responses to a questionnaire administered to the eighty-two households that were traced.
The pattern of relocation sites was strongly nodal and was centred on the project area. Of the displaced households seventy percent relocated less than one and one-half miles from their former homes and only two households ventured a distance greater than six miles. Correlation of the distances moved with socio-economic and housing characteristics indicated a tendency for those who moved farthest to acquire higher quality housing than those who moved only a short distance, but there was no significant relationship between distances moved and socio-economic characteristics. The nodal pattern of relocation sites was partially explained by several factors governing the relocation decisions of the displaced households; single location preferences, the status of the housing market, and the attractive force of the familiar territory surrounding the project area. While most of the households indicated a preferences or a location in the vicinity of the project area, a negative correlation between distances moved and degrees of satisfaction with the former home sites indicated that the less satisfied a household was with is former circumstances, the greater the distance it moved after displacement. While relatively few households altered their shopping, banking or recreation habits as a result of relocation, the majority experienced changes in housing characteristics.
Significant changes were found in housing preferences as well as in cost and quality of accommodation. Although more than three-quarters of the households preferred single family residences, twenty-five percent of these realized the limitations of a low income and also expressed a desire to move into the government low rent apartments. Costs of rent averaged forty percent higher after relocation than before, yet, many households experienced a decrease in either hosing quality or living space. It was also found that a considerable number of relocation sites were showing signs of rapid deterioration. Correlation again indicated no significant relationships between changes in housing characteristics and socio-economic characteristics. It was concluded that the relative homogeneity of the group being studied prevented any strong correlation.
Although criticism of the Canadian urban renewal program was not a primary objective, this study points out several shortcomings of the program, particularly in the humanitarian aspects. The Rose-Blanshard renewal scheme succeeded in eliminating a relatively small area of blight but, in the process, caused a number of household to suffer considerable economic and social hardships without compensation. It was concluded that many of the problems encountered in Victoria would not have occurred had the renewal and welfare programs been better coordinated. In order to avoid the recurrence of such problems it was recommended that the process of renewal be changed from a quixotic attack on blight into an ongoing urban governmental function of property acquisition and rehabilitation.