The industrial-to-urban transformation of Granville Island

Whenever friends of mine or other touristy folks ask me where to go to get a real taste of Vancouver, for some reason I always think of Granville Island. To me, Granville Island is the epitome of Vancouver. Beautiful outdoor patios, great restaurant, wonderful little artsy shops, and terrific views of False Creek, the Burrard Inlet and Yaletown/Downtown Vancouver.

However, there’s an additional reason why I love Granville Island. One of the reasons is that this “island” is really not an island. It’s a beautiful peninsula, and more importantly, it’s a peninsula that has seen a radical industrial-to-urban transformation. As I wrote before, my doctoral dissertation used an interdisciplinary framework that borrows heavily from economic geography and urban planning. Thus, I’m always keen to look at empirical examples of how cities and regions have transformed from heavily-industrialized centers to posh, sophisticated urban developments.

In particular, I have an absolute fascination for the fact that Granville Island has a concrete factory (which I have to say, looks like it’s actually operating!) Every time I go to see a show on Granville Island at The Arts Club or for a drink at the Backstage Lounge, I end up walking by the cute little exhibit of how cement is made (pictured to the right). Not only am I a specialist in urban/industrial restructuring, I am also a chemical engineer, so anything that has to do with chemical processes gets me all excited. Moreover, I find the little exhibit a great educational tool that sparks interest in the younger crowds.

I dug around the archives of the Granville Island website (on their Heritage page) and found out that the concrete factory is still in operation (Ocean Construction Ltd). I always find (as you noticed in my previous post) the co-existence of industrial and urban spaces rather fascinating. I probably will start a series of posts on the transformation of Vancouver, as I already have done some research on Mount Pleasant (an area of Vancouver that also suffered a substantial industrial-to-urban transformation)

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