A commentary by the Urban Development Institute.

The City of Victoria has shown bold leadership with its updated Official Community Plan, ­particularly through prezoning and support for a wider range of housing forms.

These measures are a critical step toward increasing housing supply and tackling affordability and deserve recognition.

But ambition must be matched with realism. The current OCP risks being out of step with real-world conditions because it limits the ability to adapt to changing circumstances.

It has been stated that amendments will generally not be considered.

This assumes that the city can anticipate every future pressure, which is not ­realistic in today’s unprecedented, ­rapidly changing environment.

The housing sector is in a cost-of-delivery crisis, facing overlapping pressures from........

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