Understanding Precedent:

An Urban Forest Design Analysis

Columbia Park, Vancouver BC
Kaysha Reeder - February 8, 2022

COLUMBIA PARK DESIGN ANALYSIS KAYSHA REEDER 1




 Site Introduction
Columbia park is located in Vancouver, BC in the
neighbourhood Oakridge. Its precise location is at Alberta
Street between 42nd and 44th avenue and Columbia Park is
the only park in the super block; the rest of the super block
is majorly residential. As Oakridge is a signi cantly big
neighbourhood, a large population uses this park for
various purposes. In this report, the design of Columbia
park will be analyzed.
Figure 1. Satellite view of Columbia Park from
Google Maps.

Overall Layout
The overall shape of Columbia park is a right trapezoid with a slight S curve on the
slanted side, which is the west side of the park. The park is framed with regularly spaced
street trees with sidewalks in the inner side and there is a small grove in the mid west side of
the park. Near the grove, there is a small trail that connects to the playground located at the
north west side. The playground is located at a depression compared to the grassy sports
elds which helps to provide privacy and safety by separating the playground from the
sports eld. The sports eld takes the biggest proportion of the park. The open elds with
green elements are in contrast with the compacted residential space with grey elements and
draws the eye. It also provides a sense of peace and calmness and can be perceived as a place
of refuge to relax and forget about the busy city life and to appreciate nature. The
composition of beautiful green space and sports elds promotes exercise such as walking,
biking, or playing sports and aids in both mental and physical health.

Figure 2. Images of Columbia Parks grove, open eld, and playground.

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 Green Space Composition
Species Composition

Figure 3. Plan of Columbia Park illustrating the location of different plant species and the park amenities.

Most of the species located within Columbia Park are deciduous broadleaf trees.
However, there was a some evergreen tree and shrub near the wading pool and one within
the grove. Since the park consist majority of deciduous trees, the park portrays a sense of
seasonality by providing shade in the summer, colourful foliage in the fall, and allowing the
warm sun shine through the branches in the winter.
The majority of the trees planted in Columbia Park are not native to BC, and some are
invasive trees and shrubs such as Acer platanoides and Prunus laurocerasus; Acer platanoides is
the most planted tree in Columbia Park with 20 trees (See Appendix). Non-native species are
likely to support less biodiversity than native species and invasive species can displace native
habitat and spread massively and harm the overall urban biodiversity.
Overall, there are diverse species within the park with a total of 13 species. However,
the species evenness, which is an important indicator of biodiversity, is relatively low since
the top 3 species consist of around 75% of the total tree species in the park.

COLUMBIA PARK DESIGN ANALYSIS KAYSHA REEDER 3

 Street Trees

There are regularly spaced street trees

that are surrounding the entire park with each
tree around 14 to 16m apart from each other. All
of the street trees are deciduous and most of
them are mature and similar in size but there are
some seedlings which seems like they were
replaced for the original trees.
Choosing different species for each side
of the park but with unity and repetition within
the same side provides an organized but diverse Figure 4. Image of regularly spaced Acer platanoides street trees
located on the south side of Columbia Park.
view. Since they aren’t spaced too closed to each
other, it aids to the open view while acting as a
clear border from the residential area to the park; the clear edge makes the park look coherent
and the same species grouped together provides perspective. It also provides a smooth
transition from the residential areas since most residential areas near by have regularly
spaced street trees as well, and the canopy of the tree connects the residential area and park
that is divided by the paved roads.
The street trees also provides diverse ecosystem services such as shade, wind and rain
protection, noise buffering, and privacy to both pedestrians and houses.

Grove

The grove is consisted of a diverse species and is

arranged in an irregular form but with bigger and wider
canopy species surrounding the smaller trees in the
middle. The informal form makes the grove look more
like a natural space and adds complexity to the open
space. The grove act as a barrier dividing the two sports
elds and provides protection from the elds to those
walking along the west side of the park and the houses
next to it as well. The large closed canopy of the grove
provides a private space with prospect refuge where
people can enjoy the view of the open eld while being
Figure 5. Close up satellite image of the grove in
Columbia Park illustrating the species composition.

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hidden.
As the grove is located near the S curve on the east side of the park, it provides a sense
of mystery and wonder especially in the summer since the view will be more obstruct with
the foliages in the grove. While the straight lines on the rest of the edges looks more
organized and tidy, this mix makes the park more interesting.

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 Appendix
Scienti c Name Common Name Origin Number

Acer platanoides Norway maple Europe & Western Asia (Invasive) 20

Acer rubrum red maple Northeastern America 1

Aesculus hippocastanum European horse- Europe 3

chestnut

Fraxinus americana white ash Eastern and Central North America 2

Fraxinus onus manna ash Southern Europe & Southwestern Asia 13

Fraxinus Pennsylvanica green ash Eastern and Central North America 11

Gleditsia triacanthos honey locust Eastern and Central North America 1

Malus spp. crab apple species North America and Asia 1

Populous nigra black poplar Northwest Europe 1

Prunus laurocerasus cherry laurel Europe (Invasive) 1

Prunus spp. (other) cherry species Western Asia and Eastern Europe 2

Quercus rubra red oak Eastern and Central North America 1

Thuja occidentalis eastern white cedar Eastern and Central North America 2

Table 1. Table portraying the species name, origin, and number of species found in Columbia
Park.

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 Reference

Google. (n.d.). [Columbia Park]. Retrieved February 4th, 2022, from https://
www.google.com/maps/place/Columbia+Park/@49.2317994,-123.1122367,15z/data=!
4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0xdd9fbca7b79453a8?
sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj9iOnJkfL1AhUnDzQIHXbDDTQQ_BJ6BAgmEAU
Kwantlen Plant Database. (n.d.). School of Horticulture Plant Database. Retrieved November
13, 2021, from https://plantdatabase.kpu.ca/plant/search.gsp

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