How Vancouver's Waterfront Went Public

The waterfront has, piece by piece, become public land over the course of the past 100 years.

"The stunning waterfront walkway clearly is one of the things that work in Vancouver, but it didn't just happen. The pathway began to take shape in 1911 when, at the urging of board secretary W.S. Rawlings, the Vancouver Park Board passed a resolution calling for land to be purchased along the English Bay waterfront. At the time, only 30 per cent of the English Bay waterfront was in public ownership – now nearly all of it is.

There are still some large, key sections of waterfront that are inaccessible to the public, but what has been compiled is already a stunning success, and the project isn't over."