Locational Conflict and the Politics of Consumption

Abstract

This paper examines locational conflicts which occurred in Vancouver, British Columbia, between 1973 and 1975. Conflicts are analyzed in terms of the neighborhoods in which they took place, the characteristics of participating groups, their grounds for involvement in a conflict, and the outcome of conflicts. The structure of conflict is interpreted in the context of a politicized group of consumers who selectively aimed to redirect the course of urban policy and especially the style of land use planning and development. Conflict then centered upon their attempt to impose their vision of the “livable city” onto urban development in the face of resistance by other interest groups. In this manner consumer preferences for land use policies may be exercised not only in the marketplace, as traditional theory has proposed, but may also be mediated through political (and legal) processes. Consumption standards have an inherently political character as they may imply either confirmation or withdrawal of legitimacy from political authority and its chosen policies for urban development. These conclusions suggest that the politics of consumption should be a significant component in an expanded theory of locational conflict and land use decision making.