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Walter Hardwick (May 3, 1932, Vancouver – June 9, 2005) was an academic who worked in the city and region of Vancouver. Hardwick was involved in public life in British Columbia at the civic, regional, provincial, and national levels. His longest service to the province was through his teaching and scholarship; he taught in the Department of Geography at the University of British Columbia (UBC) for over thirty years. He is the father of former Vancouver City Councillor Colleen Hardwick.
The B.C. Educational Research Council, a central agency to promote, finance and report on education research around the province, named Hardwick as its first permanent director in 1964."Education Probe Step-up Planned" The Vancouver Sun 1964 October 8, page 39
With his brother David F. Hardwick he established Tantalus Research Ltd.
In the late 1960s, he helped to organize a successful movement against the proposed freeway through the Vancouver, a scheme planned in relative secrecy at the time by the City and the Province. Following the defeat of the freeway proposal, he was a founding member of "The Electors' Action Movement" (TEAM)Strand, Alf. "New Deal Civic Party Christened TEAM", The Vancouver Sun 1968 March 13, p. 3 and was elected to Vancouver City Council under that banner for three terms in 1968, 1970 and 1972. While at the city, he helped to transform its decision making processes with more public involvement for major planning decisions. Hardwick played a pivotal advisory role in the city's redevelopment of Granville Island.Bannerman, Gary. “Hardwick planning face-lift for Granville Island site” The Province 1971 August 30, p. 38 Hardwick chaired the city committee planning the redevelopment of the south shore of False Creek from an industrial area to a residential district of about 10,000 people, with the emphasis on access by foot and transit rather than cars. Plans included a public marina to be run by the park board.”Hardwick supports city-owned marina” The Province 1973 April 17, page13 The innovative model neighbourhood became world famous and has held steady to the present day.Beasley, Larry. "The cloak of secrecy around Vancouver’s False Creek South needs to be lifted" The Globe & Mail 2021 September 14
Hardwick was both chair of the Urban Studies Committee at UBC and a Vancouver alderman when the city committed funds to the Inter-Institutional Policy Simulator (IIPS) project. He opposed it as a drain on university research funds and as a dangerous precedent for city planning which could present data to suit any bias. He won some concessions at city hall including “a reappraisal of the entire project by all parties in 1972; open access to all data gathered, and a promise from the city administration that IIPS wouldn’t be used as an excuse to delay planning decisions.”Adams, Neale. The Vancouver Sun 1972 February 12, page 6
Despite an interest in politics and political processes, he decided not to run for a fourth term as alderman.Kreuger, Leslie. "Walter Hardwick takes over number 2 post in education" The Vancouver Sun 1976 January 9, page 12
In 1975, Hardwick was appointed Director of Continuing Education at UBC, a post he relinquished in 1976 to serve as deputy to Minister of Education Pat McGeer in the Social Credit government of Bill Bennett. In that capacity, he ruled against Surrey School Board in its dispute with the Surrey Teachers Association, whose members opposed the establishment of a “value school,” citing the board’s lack of jurisdiction to do so under the School Act.Poulsen, Chuck. “Hardwick rules against value school” The Province 1976 May 28. page 39 A major focus as deputy minister was to expand post-secondary options in the province's interior.
Hardwick was appointed to head the board of the newly-created Knowledge Network of the West in 1980. “’Everything carried on the network must be backed up by study guides, texts and tutors offered by the post-secondary institutions or the Open Learning Institute,’ says Hardwick. ‘We’re an educational and instructional network, not public broadcasting.’”Fournier, Suzanne. “You can go to school in your living room” The Province 1981 January 12, page 5 Hardwick pushed for Vancouver to become headquarters of a Commonwealth-wide open university network.Farrow, Moira. “Network plan could yield an economic plum” The Vancouver Sun 1987 September 10, page 1
From 1986 to 1990 he served on, and chaired (1990), the National Capital Commission, with a mandate related to the planning of Canada's historic capital city of Ottawa, Ontario.
In 2000 he was recognized with an honorary degree from UBC. A UBC Urban Geography Award and scholarship was established in his name: The Walter G. Hardwick Scholarship in Urban Studies.
In 2006, a new east-west street in Vancouver's Olympic Village neighbourhood was named Walter Hardwick Avenue.
In dedicating their 2007 book, City Making in Paradise: Nine Decisions that Saved Vancouver to Hardwick's memory, authors Mike Harcourt, Ken Cameron and Sean Rossiter wrote that "Harwick's presence permeated many of the decisions we identified as being critical to the Greater Vancouver region's livability".Harcourt et al. City Making in Paradise: Nine Decisions that Saved Vancouver Vancouver, B.C.: Douglas & McIntyre, 2007, page xii
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