Unpacking Inspire Jericho: Luxury Real Estate Development and First Nations in Vancouver

Lay Summary

What happens when Indigenous nations own and develop prime real estate land in one of the world’s most expensive cities? Unpacking Inspire Jericho attempts to answer this question by showing the connection of potential luxury development and involvement of First Nations in Vancouver. Jericho Lands, a 90-acre site located in Vancouver’s West Point Grey neighborhood, is now jointly owned by three First Nations: the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh (MST) Nations, and Canada Lands Company, a non-agent Crown corporation. The study accentuates the role of MST Development Corporation, a property developer owned by the MST Nations. With its unique structure, reconciliation is identified as a main component of this development which promotes changes in urban planning practices in Vancouver. Ultimately, this research aims to understand the effects of a complicated yet historic property development against the backdrop of worsening issues of housing affordability and housing crisis in the city.

Abstract

This thesis explores the urban planning process surrounding the 90-acre redevelopment of Jericho Lands, a former site of Jericho Detachment/Garrison in Vancouver, BC. This is one of the more valuable pieces of land in the province. I investigate how the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh (MST) First Nations, various neighborhood groups, and the different levels of the government interact in this planning process. To unpack this, I employ mixed methodologies including review of government and secondary documents, interviews from key informants, and participant observation in open-to-public events of Jericho Lands. This inquiry comes at a time when the historically marginalized Lower Mainland First Nations become owners and developers of luxury real estate land in one of the world’s most expensive cities. Together with Canada Lands Company (CLC), a non-agent Crown corporation, the cooperation with the three First Nations, and the City of Vancouver establishes a complex growth coalition that supports the development of Jericho Lands. In here, I find that reconciliation narratives are used as a framework in the policy process to advance the redevelopment. Consequently, the planning process of Jericho Lands as a large-scale development reveals the prevalence of growth-based initiatives alongside conflicting and overlapping interests with other issues and stakeholders in the city. Amidst these interactions and convergent subjectivities, the involvement of MST Development Corporation as the real estate arm of the First Nations represents their participation in the growth machine framework of Harvey Molotch (1979) and later reintroduced with John Logan (1987). Since this study only covers Phase One of Jericho Lands Policy Planning Program, I conclude with questions to consider in further studies of such a complex site.

Alexine Maria Mendoza Sanchez. Master of Arts thesis, Department of Geography, The University of British Columbia (Vancouver), October 2020.