Western regional identity and urban development policy: The view from professional planners

Abstract

Boise and Calgary share many similar attributes despite their distinctive national origins and cultural heritages. They represent the “western metropolis” prototype that academics and journalists have cultivated over decades through spellbinding narratives about the isolated west, ethics of individualism, anti-federal/provincial sentiment, urban/rural divide, and contradictory environmental ethos. Yet, no one has considered how this western identity influences contemporary urban development policy. This comparative study surveys planners in Boise and Calgary to uncover their expert-driven perspectives. Research shows that these cross-border planners believe that western regional identity influences urban development policy in powerful ways. While they share some similar opinions in what matters most, they also possess significantly different insights when it comes to the importance of individualism, population homogeneity, natural resource economies, anti-tax attitudes, and western alienation. Overall, our survey results show that “place” does matter for policymaking in the thoughts and ideas of city planners in Boise and Calgary.

Keywords:

• Intermountain West, Urban development policy, U.S./Canada cross-border planning

Notes

1 Tel.: [phone].

1 There are many definitions or conceptions of the “West” based on distinct features whether geographic, economic or cultural. Garreau's (1981) conceptualization builds on a historical experiment. In another example, the Brookings Institution, a prominent research think tank, out of Washington DC, started an initiative with UNLV called the Brookings Mountain West, to report on regional economic indicators of western cities (UNLV, 2014). The U.S Census takes a blunter approach and breaks the nation into four geographic quadrants, including North, South, East and West (U.S. Department of Commerce 2014). Our definition starts with a geographic foundation and brings in other cultural, social and environmental factors to the mix to act as a bridge between physical space and cultural place. See Markusen (1987) who defines regions and regionalism from distinct political, economic and cultural frameworks.

2 In this article, we are focusing on the geographic region of the Intermountain West. We use several terms to describe this region, including “North American West,” “Mountain West,” and “West”

3 There are many definitions for mega regions, see Lyons (1994)Ross (2009)Florida (2014); and Regional Plan Association (2014). For the purposes of our research, we identify mega regions as regions that cross borders as in this case where the North American West encapsulates portions of Canada and the United States.

4 In the U.S. municipalities are the “creatures of the state” and thus states have considerable influence over what municipalities can do and not do. Idaho, in particular, follows “Dillon Rule” closely with municipalities only having the rights expressly granted to them by the state constitution and legislature (Witt & Weatherby, 2012). Cities in Canada are also “creatures of the state” but provinces are more lenient in practice and primarily exert influence and control over financial and fiscal matters.

5 It should be recognized that both Boise and Calgary are applying modern technology to natural resource development as represented by their efforts in the oil and gas industry, especially as it relates to fracking.

6 While western alienation has been a large part of both Idaho's and Alberta's past (for historic illustrations, see National Energy Program in Canada and free silver in the US), things may be changing in this regard in Alberta with the recent elections where the New Democratic Party have now gained control of Parliament. At this point in time, it may be too early to say there has been a fundamental shift in Alberta, and Idaho remains thoroughly entrenched in its views toward the federal government and in the dominance of conservative values.

7 As noted in the next sections of this article, the emphasis of our research is to describe and delineate the views of professional planners and how they view urban planning development in the Intermountain West as it applies to the characteristics that define this particular region of North America. We do not examine actual urban policies but focus rather on the perceptions of professional planners and how they perceive urban planning as it applies to their respective communities.

8 One difference worth nothing is that Boise is the state capital of Idaho while Edmonton, not Calgary, serves as the capital of Alberta.

9 The results of the most recent provincial election had the NDP oust the entrenched power of the Progressive Conservatives. This recent change will have to be monitored to see if any substantial changes in political culture occur and its relationship to changes in urbanization. However, at the time of the survey, the Progressive Conservatives were still in power and thus the conservative similarities still hold.

10 For the purposes of this paper, we collapsed categories to reflect important and not important on a scale from 1-5. The open ended portion of the survey was provided so that respondents could provide additional comments if they wished. As noted in the survey questionnaire, we asked a few demographic questions that were not used in this manuscript but will be used for future research.

11 We selected a mail survey rather than an electronic survey so that we could track and trace respondents while ensuring control over survey response rates.

12 We worked with municipal planning staff at the City of Boise and the City of Calgary to compile a list of public planners, and we worked with the Idaho chapter of the American Planning Association and the Alberta Professional Planners Institute to compile a list of private or consultant planners. Both survey populations included planners with different levels of experience, age, sex, and tenure. Future research may consider differences among these different features in terms of their responses.

13 The results show a higher response rate for Boise than Calgary. We expected a higher response rate because our university is located in the region and we have contacts with the planning department.

14 It is worth noting that Calgary has hosted the Winter Olympics and invested heavily in transportation infrastructure for the event. While this kind of large scale event planning may have affected attitudes towards collective projects, it is not the purpose of this paper to focus on specific policies or projects.