Opinion: Spencer van Vloten says Vancouver needs parks and recreation investment to meet modern demand

The Story

Spencer van Vloten writes that Vancouver’s parks and recreation system was largely built for a much smaller, less dense city, and that it now requires modernization for the demands of the current population.

In the op-ed, van Vloten says Vancouver had about 100,000 residents in 1911, 246,000 in 1931, and 414,000 in 1981, adding that the city now has more than 700,000 residents with the number approaching one million by 2050.

Van Vloten says the infrastructure supporting that growth is showing its age, citing that 72 per cent of community centres, pools, and indoor rinks are in poor or very poor condition and that there is an estimated annual infrastructure funding gap of about $33 million.

He points to examples including Hastings and Kerrisdale community centres dating to the 1950s, Renfrew’s struggle to keep pace with neighbourhood growth, and maintenance and renewal needs at Britannia.

Van Vloten also links the need for renewal to how residents use parks, saying older adults are underrepresented in parks studied despite more than one million British Columbians being 65 or older, about 20 per cent of the population.

He attributes the participation gap to barriers in public spaces, including uneven paths, inaccessible washrooms, a lack of accessible parking, and other issues, and argues that removing barriers can increase participation in public life.

The op-ed says Vancouver Park Board operating capacity is also affected by City of Vancouver funding, which under Mayor Ken Sim accounts for one of the lowest shares of the Park Board’s operating budget in decades, making the system more reliant on fees and other revenues.

Van Vloten concludes that new housing and population growth should be paired with investments in nearby parks, community centres, pools, and playing fields so recreation capacity can keep pace with the communities it serves.