Town and Crown: An Illustrated History of Canada’s Capital by David L.A. Gordon

Often when the city of Ottawa is discussed or viewed, what is highlighted is the canal running through the city, the beautiful parliament buildings, the very cold winters, and maybe even the annual tulip festival.However, this seemingly peaceful urban centre has some very dramatic beginnings.Th is book, Town and Crown: An Illustrated History of Canada's Capital, by Dr. Gordon, retells Canada's founding through the eyes of a planner, while also providing a thorough account of the ways in which Ottawa has developed as the capital of Canada.Further, Dr. Gordon also explains some of the unexpected reasons the Crown exists in this particular Town, as well as the tensions which have existed in the region since contact throughout the text.Th e book unfolds temporally, beginning at the literal foundation of what is now Ottawa, the geology and physical geography of the region, before discussing the Indigenous Nations which lived in the region precontact and colonization, moving all the way to contemporary planning issues in 2011.Each chapter builds on the next, providing a geographic, economic, social, and political contextual analysis for each referenced period of time.Th is outline essentially gives an entire history of what we now refer to as the Ottawa Valley.Although the specifi cs of the unfolding planning confl icts do shift, the tensions between the local and national politics, and the necessity for negotiation, remains central to each chapter.Each chapter presents a wealth of information, which comes from over 16 years of archival research and informational interviews with planners, architects, and politicians.Th e discussion from this extensive research is further augmented by maps, contemporary and historical press reports and photos, and early plans which demonstrate the various transformations the National Capital Region has undergone, from a "city [that] lacked the most basic urban amenities" (p.1) and an "embarrassment to its leaders and people" (p. 3) to a growing metropolitan area with a high quality of life (p.319), which is only outranked by "Vienna, Bern and Berlin" (p.326).However, Dr. Gor don goes further than just describing urban transformations over time, and the various popular planning styles within the city, and illustrates the ways in which the planning of Ottawa was a major aspect of post-contact Nation building.Other critical refl ections include the politics of naming, such as the way in which the Ottawa River "after people that had never inhabited its valley" (pg.11).Often when discussing urban geographies in Canada, the cities of importance include only Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal, and thus Ottawa may seem an unlikely site for urban planning research.Dr. Gordon disengages from this assumption, demonstrating the way in which Ottawa as the National Capital is a prime location for planning strategy diff usion.Although many cities in the region originally used simple planning designs, Ottawa became a site of discussion for planners like Th omas Adams, Edward Bennet, Frederick Todd, with redevelopment after WWII being done by Jacques Gréber.

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