COMMUNITY AND LAND-USE PLANNING DEBATE - AN EXAMPLE FROM RURAL BRITISH-COLUMBIA

The expansion of urban areas both changes and displaces rural communit ies along the urban fringe. This is not a new phenomenon and geographi c research has paid considerable attention to understanding these urba nization pressures. Previous research, however, has paid less attentio n to the implications of these pressures and changes on the preexistin g rural community and almost no attention to the opposition which loca l residents may raise in efforts to protect their community from the d isruption of change. This paper is about resistance. The example of Co lumbia Valley, a small rural agricultural area about one hour's drive east of Vancouver, British Columbia, is utilized to explore the opposi tion this community has mounted against two recent large-scale develop ment proposals. Both proposals would have significantly changed the na ture of the area and the local community. In both cases, the resistanc e mounted by this community played a key role in preventing the propos als from proceeding. Also, in both cases, the resistance was founded t o a considerable degree upon residents' desire to protect the lifestyl es and livelihoods currently existing within their local community. Th is rural activism suggests that residents are concerned about urbaniza tion pressures and that local ideas of community and lifestyle may hav e some force in operationalizing public opposition to radical change.