Abstract And Table Of Contents

Alternate Routes, New Pathways: Development, Democracy and the Political Ecology of Transportation in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Richard Oddie

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

Faculty of Environmental Studies York University Toronto, Ontario

November, 2008

Abstract A number of recent studies in the emergent field of urban political ecology have examined the role of discourse and symbolic representations of nature and the city in conflicts over urban development and infrastructure. In my dissertation, I expand upon this approach to consider why and how social movements mobilize counter-hegemonic narratives that challenge prevailing notions of development, democracy and nature. Through a case study of the decades-long conflict over the Red Hill Creek Expressway in the (post) industrial city of Hamilton, Canada, I trace the historical development of alternative narratives. I demonstrate how these narratives have been articulated through representations of urban nature, in a dialogical relationship with a hegemonic narrative of growth and progress. I argue that environmental discourses should not be treated as static political positions but must be understood through the interplay between competing narratives as they draw upon and influence each other, including attempts to modify or co-opt particular ideas and symbols. My research presents a methodological framework based on the historical analysis of political frames and ideologies, examining how the language of sustainability, development and democracy was appropriated, altered and re-appropriated over the course of this conflict. My dissertation research applies this approach to three areas that have yet to receive much attention in the field of urban political ecology: transportation infrastructure; industrial cities; and colonialism. Through my analysis of the Red Hill Creek Expressway conflict, I show how the development of transportation infrastructure is shaped by changing political economic conditions and normative representations of urban nature that are grounded in the unique socio-ecological history of this region as a steel-manufacturing centre. Further, I argue that conflicts over urban development and transportation in a Canadian context cannot be understood without considering the colonial relationships, past and present, between indigenous peoples and non-Aboriginal Canada. As I demonstrate, the interaction between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal activists in this case challenges prevailing conceptions of environmentalism, along with related understandings of citizenship, democracy and development in ways that point towards a post-colonial political ecology.

Table of Contents 1. The Political Ecology of Transportation and the Ideological Terrain of Urban Nature Other Voices: Environmental Narratives and Articulating Landscapes

1

Political Ecology, Urban Development and Post-Industrial Cities

8

Urban Metabolism and Transportation

15

The Social Production of Urban Space, Scale and Nature

20

Environmental Imaginaries, Frames and Ideologies

26

Research Methodology

33

Chapter Overview

37

2. Water, Stone and Steel: Hamilton’s Socio-Ecological Roots The Head of the Lake: Aboriginal Inhabitants and Colonization

41

Imaginary Lines: Waterways, Railways and Roadways in the Frontier City

51

The Rise of the Steel City

66

Urban Metabolism in the Steel City

78

The Industrial Imaginary

84

3. Accelerating Development and Resistance: Contested Landscapes and Political Narratives Urban Infrastructure, Suburbanization and the Automobile Road to Progress: Early Proposals for the Red Hill Creek Expressway

89 103

Pavers and Savers: Public Mobilization and Political Narratives

118

4. Re-Envisioning Urban Development? Globalization, Ecological Modernization and Vision 2020 Endangered Environments and Economies

139

Politics, Ecology, Economics: The 1985 Joint-Board Hearing

144

Ecological Modernization and the Politics of Sustainable Development

159

Vision 2020: Participatory Planning and the Promise of Ecological Modernization

172

Roadblock: Money, Trees and the NDP

177

5. Urban Sustainability, Neoliberalism and Public Ecology Competing Visions of the Future

191

Neoliberalizing the Steel City

197

Multiplying Paths of Resistance: Justice, Development and Democracy

209

Expanding Networks: The Federal Environmental Assessment

219

Public Ecology and the Urban Ecological Imaginary

228

6. Contesting Development, Democracy and Aboriginal Rights in the Red Hill Valley The “New” City of Hamilton and the Transportation Network Engine

239

More Than Just a Road: Aboriginal Land and the Green Expressway

247

Confrontation and Collaboration in the Valley: The Showstoppers and the Keepers of the Sacred Fire

255

Aboriginal Rights: Land, Law and Colonial Imaginaries

270

Property, Nature and Indigenous Sovereignty

278

Searching for Political Space

285

7. Beyond Red Hill Valley: The Greening of Development and the Democratization of Urban Ecology Neo-Fordist Ecological Modernization and the Ideology of Development 295 Smart Growth, GRIDS and the Aerotropolis Debate

304

Seeds of Change: Urban Ecology and Activism After Red Hill

313

Beyond the City: Environmental Politics, Justice and Canadian Colonialism 325 Conclusion: Some Contributions for Thought and Action 334

Bibliography

347

Appendices Appendix A

Participation Consent Form

376

Appendix B

Interview Questions

377

List of Figures Figure 2.1 Physical geography of Hamilton

43

Figure 2.2 “Progress” by John Ganst, 1872

51

Figure 2.3 Land Survey of the Township of Barton, 1791

53

Figure 2.4 The Head of the Lake, c. 1835

55

Figure 2.5 Artist’s Depiction of the Hamilton Waterworks, 1863

66

Figure 2.6: East-End Incline Railway

70

Figure 2.7: The Electric City, 1903

71

Figure 2.8: Construction of the Hunter Street Tunnel, 1890s

86

Figure 2.9: Postcard depicting the industrial waterfront, 1904

86

Figure 3.1: A scenic drive following the edge of the Hamilton Escarpment, c. 1950

91

Figure 3.2: Aerial view of industrial development along Hamilton’s eastern waterfront, 1970s

96

Figure 3.3: Red Hill Valley route, with alternate routes Kenilworth Avenue and Highway 20 highlighted

114

Figure 3.4: Save the Valley lawn signs

126

Figure 3.5: Savers and Pavers outside City Hall

129

Figure 4.1: Red Hill Valley, looking north from the escarpment

139

Figure 4.2: Red Hill Valley and surrounding area, 1990s

141

Figure 4.3: Existing and proposed industrial parks

151

Figure 4.4: Tree Crossing

180

Figure 4.5: Pro-Expressway Rally at Queen’s Park

181

Figure 5.1: “1000 Expressway Dollars”

201

Figure 5.2: Illustrating the “Pro-Expressway Vision”

215

Figure 5.3: Valley of Vermin

217

Figure 5.4: Get Hamilton Moving Task Force logo

220

Figure 6.1: Money and water down the drain? Figure 6.2: Protest the Cuts poster

243 246

Figure 6.3: The Red Hill Valley Project

252

Figure 6.4: Rally for the Valley, August 4, 2003

256

Figure 6.5: Showstoppers Meeting, August 2003

259

Figure 6.6: The Greenhill Community Garden

259

Figure 6.7: Building the Longhouse

264

Figure 6.8: Claiming Sacred Space

267

Figure 6.9: The voice of the people? Figure 6.10: March to Queen’s Park, 2003

270 286

Figure 6.11: Council Chambers Protest, 2004

289

Figure 7.1: The Red Hill Valley Parkway

297

Figure 7.2: Parking Meter Parties, 2001 and 2008

315

Figure 7.3: Sky Dragon Centre Figure 7.4: Six Nations, in relation to Caledonia, Hamilton and the Red Hill Valley Figure 7.5: Blockade at Douglas Creek Estates, Caledonia

320 326 327