This recent Winter Olympics host is the largest metropolitan area in Western Canada and being called the “city of neighborhoods,” it is densely populated by a diverse range of people representing many different ethnic communities. Vancouver, with its mild coastal climate and varied natural ecology has towering conifers and flowering rhododendrons, while the streets are lined with cherry and chestnut trees. Known for its sustainability efforts, Vancouver is working on becoming the world’s “greenest” or most environmentally friendly city. One plan uses the idea of “ecodensity,” where the city uses a large number of high-rise buildings with strict environmental standards in order to limit urban sprawl, or the outward spreading of a city into lower density suburbs.
