RURAL PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT 67 



the sub-divisions in conformity with the rectangular system of survey, 

 is shown in figure 20. These two plans prove the point which has 

 been somewhat laboured in this chapter, namely, that no fixed or 

 definite system of planning is desirable and that every plan should vary 

 with the circumstances, conditions and topography. The meaning of 

 this is that planning in all the provinces must be under the control 

 of skilled departments and officials trained to exercise discretion 

 and intelligence in laying out and developing the land. Probably 

 such men could be recruited from the surveying profession, subject 

 to their training being widened to suit them for their new duties; 

 they need not be less accurate in their measurements owing to 

 the fact that they have to take fresh conditions into consideration. 



We have seen that the influence of the rural plan on the urban 

 plan is not confined to new countries. But it is mostly in the new coun- 

 tries that the rural plan is rectangular and so completely ignores 

 the topography of the ground. The main roads and the farm and field 

 boundaries of Great Britain have some regard to natural conditions, 

 so that, with all their irregularity, they provide a better and more 

 rational foundation for the urban plan than the rectangular survey 

 plan of rural Canada. Farm land should be planned, first, to secure 

 its best economic use for agricultural purposes, and, second, to adapt 

 itself to the natural features of the country-side. If and when this 

 land became adaptable for building purposes, it could then be replan- 

 ned to fit in with the general plan of the city or town. The rural 

 plan, being a topographical plan, would then provide the right basis 

 for the city or town plan. (Figures 21 and 22). 



Present Control of Sub-Division Surveys 



Apart from those provinces which have town planning Acts 

 in force, to which reference will be made later, a small amount of 

 government control is exercised over the sub-division of lots, particu- 

 larly in unorganized territory, and no general system of planning has 

 yet been inaugurated in any province with the exception of the begin- 

 ning which has been made in Nova Scotia. The requirement in some 

 western provinces that five per cent of all new townsites or sub-divi- 

 sions must be reserved for open space is of great value, but it would 

 be more so if the space was reserved as a part of a proper plan of 

 development. 



We have seen that some of the worst results of the present rec- 

 tangular system, as a basis of development, are shown in the building 

 subdivisions in rural areas lying adjacent to cities and towns. It is 

 there that the plan of the country and the plan of the city influence 



