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Suspend the bridge : community power, regime theory and the decision to build Vancouver’s Lions’ Gate Bridge Parslow, Katharine Anne
Abstract
In recent years, regime theorists have begun to examine the question of community power in cities and to address criticisms made against the older elite and pluralist schools of interpretation. Regime theory argues that political power is neither centered in the hands of an elite as suggested by the elite theorists, nor equally distributed among all members of the city as argued by pluralists. On the contrary, regime theory contends that an informal coalition forms between government and private interests to develop and implement urban policy initiatives. Despite regime theory's contribution to the community power debate, it still requires refinement. The interwar decision to build Vancouver's Lions Gate Bridge provides an excellent opportunity to test and refine regime theory analysis. The bridge decision demonstrates that while the pro-development coalition sought alliances and support from typical regime members such as local government and community organizations, opposition from elements within the business community, who were tied to Canada's natural resource sector, arose against the urban initiative. During both the 1926-27 and 1930s attempts to build the bridge, opponents looked to the federal government for support. The opposition succeeded in convincing the federal Department of Public Works to reject the bridge proposal in 1926-27 and Prime Minister Bennett's Conservative government to do the same in 1934. As a result of the opponents' actions, the bridge coalition had to seek compensatory support from the federal Liberal party once it formed the national government in 1935. The larger significance of this case study of urban decision making is that regime theory needs to take into account the national context in regime formation. Scholars employing a regime theory approach to community power should not assume a coherent and united business sector in cities such as Vancouver, and must account for the role of opposition in moulding a successful coalition.
Item Metadata
Title |
Suspend the bridge : community power, regime theory and the decision to build Vancouver’s Lions’ Gate Bridge
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Creator | |
Publisher |
University of British Columbia
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Date Issued |
1997
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Description |
In recent years, regime theorists have begun to examine the question of community power in
cities and to address criticisms made against the older elite and pluralist schools of interpretation.
Regime theory argues that political power is neither centered in the hands of an elite as suggested by the
elite theorists, nor equally distributed among all members of the city as argued by pluralists. On the
contrary, regime theory contends that an informal coalition forms between government and private
interests to develop and implement urban policy initiatives. Despite regime theory's contribution to the
community power debate, it still requires refinement. The interwar decision to build Vancouver's Lions
Gate Bridge provides an excellent opportunity to test and refine regime theory analysis. The bridge
decision demonstrates that while the pro-development coalition sought alliances and support from typical
regime members such as local government and community organizations, opposition from elements
within the business community, who were tied to Canada's natural resource sector, arose against the
urban initiative. During both the 1926-27 and 1930s attempts to build the bridge, opponents looked to
the federal government for support. The opposition succeeded in convincing the federal Department of
Public Works to reject the bridge proposal in 1926-27 and Prime Minister Bennett's Conservative
government to do the same in 1934. As a result of the opponents' actions, the bridge coalition had to
seek compensatory support from the federal Liberal party once it formed the national government in
1935. The larger significance of this case study of urban decision making is that regime theory needs to
take into account the national context in regime formation. Scholars employing a regime theory
approach to community power should not assume a coherent and united business sector in cities such as
Vancouver, and must account for the role of opposition in moulding a successful coalition.
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Extent |
3819601 bytes
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Genre | |
Type | |
File Format |
application/pdf
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Language |
eng
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Date Available |
2009-03-25
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Provider |
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
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Rights |
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.
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DOI |
10.14288/1.0088275
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URI | |
Degree | |
Program | |
Affiliation | |
Degree Grantor |
University of British Columbia
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Graduation Date |
1997-11
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Campus | |
Scholarly Level |
Graduate
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Aggregated Source Repository |
DSpace
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Item Media
Item Citations and Data
Rights
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.