Exercise #3: Connecting Past and Present
October 23, 2025 By: Grace Fang
HIST 3991: Environmental History
Student name: Grace Fang
October 23 2025
- Vancouver Media Report: Vancouver recently approved a large number of new homes, high-rise towers and natural solutions in the 6.6-square-kilometre area of the “Rupert and Renfrew Station Area”.
The report pointed out that East Vancouver plans to solve the housing shortage by building new high-rise towers, but the community is concerned that the development will crowd out green space and public facilities. This is in line with the tension between urbanization and parks: expansion of housing demand in the process of urbanization often comes at the expense of ecological space. This made me reflect on the fact that traditional urbanization often ignores ecologically fragile areas such as streams and wetlands, but now Vancouver has included ecological health and urban expansion in its planning, reflecting a hybrid development trend. This challenges my assumptions about ecological sacrifice. I have found that urbanization, with policy interventions, transportation priorities and green infrastructure, may also reduce the ecological impact. Previously, Vancouver had suspended the development of parks due to high-rise towers blocking them, which made me realize that contemporary urbanization needs to avoid disorderly expansion and damage to green spaces, and that the development of public spaces should be paid attention to.
- Shanghai media reports: Shanghai “green space” expansion: There are more than 1,000 parks, and 500+ more are planned to be built to increase the per capita green space area.
News link: https://en.people.cn/n3/2025/0829/c90000-20359123.html
The news is directly related to the theme of “parks” and “conservation”: in rapidly urbanizing Shanghai, the government has chosen to open up idle land, space under overpasses, schools and corporate green spaces as parks. The practice of implanting green space in the historical area in the report echoes the view that urban heritage protection and ecological restoration can be promoted simultaneously in the course. Compared with the spatial game of new areas, the ecological transformation of existing urban areas needs to take into account the habits and ecological needs of residents, which makes me re-understand the diversified realization of sustainable urbanization. At the same time, I noticed that improving the per capita green space is not only about improving the landscape, but also about promoting ecological restoration and social equity, that is, giving more citizens the opportunity to get close to nature.
Hey Grace,
I liked your point that urbanization does not always have to mean sacrificing the environment. Your Vancouver example was interesting because the need for more housing is obviously important, but so is protecting streams, wetlands, green space, and other parts of the environment as the city continues to grow. I think your point about policy and green infrastructure is important because it shows that some of the environmental problems caused by urbanization are also influenced by how cities choose to develop.
I also thought the comparison with Shanghai was interesting because it shows that parks and green spaces can actually be added as cities become more developed instead of only being lost to development. Your point about social equity also stood out to me. Having more parks is not just about making a city look greener, but also about making sure people living in dense urban areas have access to nature and public spaces. I think both examples show that urban growth and environmental protection do not necessarily have to work against each other.