ABSTRACT
This chapter expresses the role of open space in national capital plans and how planning for green spaces in Canada's capital evolved over the first half of the twentieth century. It describes the original intention for the green belt in Canada's 1950 Plan for the National Capital, and how the Ottawa green belt evolved from an urban containment measure to an open space and ecological feature of the regional plan. The Ottawa Improvement Commission (OIC) retained Frederick G. Todd to prepare a preliminary parks plan for the Canadian capital. The ecosystems analysis of the major natural areas in the Greenbelt indicated that the regional growth pattern was starting to impair some ecological links beyond the Greenbelt. The federal government abandoned attempts to enforce regional planning objectives through planning regulations. The Greenbelt offers both benefits and disadvantages from a sustainability context, which is increasingly driving the planning agenda in Canada's capital region and in cities worldwide.
