Jens von Bergmann has run the numbers on land use in various municipalities in Metro Vancouver. The City of Vancouver in particular has lot of land tied up in streets and detached housing.
| Use | CoV land |
|---|---|
| single-family detached houses and duplexes | 34.0% |
| roads and right-of-way | 28.1% |
| recreation, open space, and natural areas | 15.2% |
| commercial | 3.9% |
| low-rise apartments (residential or mixed-use) | 4.1% |
| high-rise apartments (residential or mixed-use) | 1.9% |
Because the City of Vancouver has so little area left undeveloped, any proposals for new housing, schools, parks, stores, and so forth will displace some existing use of the land.