Reading the Urban Form: an Urban Morphological Evaluation of Downtown Sports Facilities In
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Reading the Urban Form: An Urban Morphological Evaluation of Downtown Sports Facilities in London and Hamilton, Ontario Gavin Williamson A Thesis presented to the University of Waterloo in fulfillment of the thesis requirement for the degree of Master of Arts in Planning Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, 2013 © Gavin Williamson 2013 Abstract Over the past few decades, the issue of downtown revitalization has been a priority for planners and civic leaders. One strategy of attracting people, jobs and investment to the downtown is by constructing a catalytic facility that facilitates further growth, of which the sports stadium is “by far” the most prevalent example (Coates and Humphreys, 2011; p.5). However, the outcome of downtown stadium development has been inconsistent in cities across North America. The purpose of this thesis is to determine whether the built urban form impacts the outcome of downtown sports arenas and whether it contributes to civic image. An urban morphological analysis is conducted in order to evaluate the outcome of two multi-purpose sports arenas: Budweiser Gardens in London, ON and Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, ON. The analysis traces the evolution of both cities’ downtown urban form over time, identifying patterns to development by categorizing the townscape into three elements: the town plan unit (consisting of the street pattern, lot pattern and building pattern), the building fabric and land use. The urban morphological analysis was undertaken utilizing fire insurance maps, tax assessments and planning documents. In addition, a questionnaire was distributed to 200 residents of both case cities in order to gauge each facility's contribution to civic image. The results show that Budweiser Gardens has emerged as the more successful facility, namely due to two factors: (a) the arena is sited close to the central business district, in an area where the historical townscape has been preserved to a greater extent; and (b) because the unique design of the facility (which incorporates a replica of a historic building into the contemporary development) contributes to a higher degree of civic image than Copps Coliseum, which lacks both historic and current place references. The ultimate conclusion of this thesis is that urban morphological analyses should be incorporated into urban plans, so that the siting of future projects can be improved in order for cities to accrue the maximum benefits and return-on- investment. ii Author’s Declaration I hereby declare that I am the sole author of this thesis. This is a true copy of the thesis, including any final revisions, as accepted by my supervisors. I also understand that my thesis may be made electronically available to the public. iii Acknowledgments This research would not have been possible without the help of others. I would like to thank my advisor, Dr. Robert Shipley, for giving me the advice and confidence needed to make it through a master’s program. I would also like to thank my committee members: Dr. John Lewis and Dr. Pierre Filion, for providing me with moral support in addition to sources, which have influenced the outcome of this research. I would also like to thank the staff in the planning departments in London and Hamilton – special thanks goes to Don Menard and Mark Boulger from the City of London's Planning and Development office for taking time out of their day for their assistance in this project. Thanks also go out to the 203 citizens of London and Hamilton for completing my questionnaire. Finally, I would like to thank my friends and family, whom live in Winnipeg and southern Ontario. Some of the best times of my life have happened during the course of this project, and has provided me with motivation to finish this project. Finally, I would like to thank my mom and my siblings: Leslie and Colin, for continuing to believe in me and what I do. iv Table of Contents List of Figures …....................................................................................... viii Chapter One: Introduction 1.1 – Overview …...................................................................................... 1 1.1.1 – Study Rationale …............................................................. 4 1.2 – Research Question and Objectives …......................................…..... 4 1.3 – Significance of Study …................................................................... 5 1.4 – Layout of Thesis …........................................................................... 6 Chapter Two – Literature Review 2.1 – Sports Facilities …............................................................................ 7 2.1.1 – Historical Overview …...................................................... 7 2.1.2 – Stadium Development in Urban Revitalization …............ 11 2.1.3 – Planning for a Catalyst …................................................. 12 2.1.4 – Sports and Entertainment Districts …............................... 14 2.1.5 – Summary …....................................................................... 16 2.2 – Economics and Urban Amenity Development …............................. 16 2.2.1 – Sports Stadium Subsidies ….............................................. 16 2.2.2 – Urban Economics …......................................................... 19 2.2.3 – Urban Governance …........................................................ 20 2.2.4 – Summary …....................................................................... 23 2.3 – Civic Image in Urban Centres ......................................................... 23 2.3.1 – Post-Industrial Place Marketing …................................... 23 2.3.2 – Commodification of Space …........................................... 25 2.3.3 – Criticisms of Place Marketing/Theming …....................... 26 2.3.4 – Place Identity …................................................................ 29 2.3.5 – Summary …....................................................................... 33 2.4 – Urban Morphology …...................................................................... 31 2.4.1 – Overview …...................................................................... 34 2.4.2 – Two Schools of Urban Morphology …............................. 35 2.4.3 – Urban Form Typology ….................................................. 38 2.4.4 – Aspects of Morphological Analysis ….............................. 40 2.4.5 – Summary …....................................................................... 42 2.5 – Conclusion …................................................................................... 43 Chapter Three – Methods and Analysis Framework 3.1 – Introduction …................................................................................... 44 3.2 – Case Study ….................................................................................... 44 3.2.1 – Selection of Cases ….......................................................... 45 3.2.2 – Case Study Locations ….................................................... 46 3.2.3 – Data Collection ….............................................................. 49 3.2.4 – Framework for Data Organization …................................. 51 v 3.3 – Questionnaire …................................................................................ 53 3.3.1 – Question Development Process …..................................... 54 3.3.2 – Sampling Method ….......................................................... 55 3.4 – Analytical Framework ….................................................................. 56 3.4.1 – Cartographic Analysis/Urban Morphology …................... 57 3.4.2 – Civic Image …................................................................... 58 3.5 – Ethics Review …............................................................................... 59 3.6 – Summary …....................................................................................... 59 Chapter Four: Case Study One – London, ON 4.1 – About London …............................................................................... 60 4.1.1 – Case Study Zone …............................................................ 63 4.2 – Overview of Urban Form: 1826-1945 ….....…................................. 64 4.2.1 – Streets …............................................................................. 64 4.2.2 – Parcels …............................................................................ 66 4.2.3 – Building and Building Fabric …........................................ 71 4.2.4 – Land Uses …….................................................................. 76 4.3 – Changes in Townscape: 1945 to the Present …................................ 78 4.4 – Questionnaire Results ....................................................................... 86 4.5 – Summary …....................................................................................... 88 Chapter Five: Case Study Two – Hamilton, ON 5.1 – About Hamilton …............................................................................ 89 5.1.1 – Case Study Zone …........................................................... 92 5.2 – Overview of Urban Form: 1816-1945 …......................................... 93 5.2.1 – Streets …............................................................................ 94 5.2.2 – Lots …............................................................................... 97 5.2.3 – Building and Building Fabric …....................................... 102 5.2.4 – Land Uses …....................................................................