Nature of Place

Physical Characteristics
- Surrey is approximately 370 square kilometers in area which equals the size of Vancouver, Richmond and Burnaby combined.
- The City consists of upland areas with glacial deposits and lowland areas with fertile river deposits (see map below).
- The Fraser river flows by the community to the north and the Nicomekl and Serpentine rivers empty into Boundary Bay in South Surrey.
- There are forested areas in the community (i.e. within parks).
- Surrey has a maritime climate with moderate temperatures and wet winters. The average summer temperature is approximately 22 degrees Celsius in comparison to five degrees Celsius during the winter. The city receives just over 1000 mm of precipitation annually. North Surrey though receives more precipitation than the southern portion of the city due to the orographic effect of the mountains to the north.

Courtesy: Geological Survey of Canada

Economic Characteristics
- Surrey has a diversified economic profile (i.e. commercial services, industrial sector, port facilities, residential construction, agriculture, tourism, and the movie / tv industry).

Zoning Map Legend
Courtesy: City of Surrey

- There are diversified income levels with wealthy areas such as portions of South Surrey to lower income areas such as parts of Whalley (see map below) to predominantly middle class for most of the city.
- Cheaper real estate prices than Vancouver and the availability of land is spurring tremendous growth in the city.
- Two US / Canada border crossings are located at the southern edge of the city aiding commerce with Canada's largest trading partner.
- The low Canadian dollar has encouraged Americans to buy more products from Surrey and to invest in industries such as tv / movie production.

Environmental Characteristics
- Surrey is known as the "City of Parks" with more than 600 designated parks and green belts covering approximately 5400 acres (see green areas on map below).
- 35% of City land is designated for agricultural purposes as part of the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) established by the provincial government in the 1970s to preserve farmland for the future.
- As the population of the city continues to grow, there are issues of how to manage that growth in terms of livability and the impact on air, water, and soil quality due to urbanization, industrialization, and transportation.

Communities of Surrey
Courtesy: City of Surrey

Political Characteristics
- Surrey officially became a city in September of 1993 but has been incorporated since 1879.
- The mayor of Surrey is Dianne Watts.
- As Surrey continues to grow, city officials desire a greater say in how the Greater Vancouver Regional District is run with respect to issues such as transportation projects and policing.
- Surrey's Sister Cities are the City of Zhuhai in China and the City of Koto-ku in Japan.

Social and Cultural Characteristics
- Surrey is a very multicultural city with diverse age groups; although the southern portion of the city (near White Rock) is less diverse ethnically with a generally older population.
- The City's population is growing at a rate of approximately 800 per month and is projected to overtake Vancouver in the next twenty years as British Columbia's most populated city.
- With such rapid growth there are big city challenges to deal with such as transportation issues and crime (i.e. auto theft, drugs, and prostitution).

Human-Environment Interaction

Human Dependency On the Environment
- Fertile alluvial soil deposited on river flood plains in the lowland areas has created agricultural potential.
- The Fraser river acts as a transportation route for port activity.
- The Fraser, Serpentine, and Nicomekl rivers support the commercial, sports, and aboriginal fisheries.
- Historically, forests have created logging jobs and related businesses.
- Trees in parks help to support recreation, provide oxygen, moderate local temperatures, and filter air pollution.
- Preservation of wetland areas helps to reduce the risk of flooding and filters pollutants in water.
- The movie / television industry seeks out locations in Surrey to film due in part to the physical geography (eg the science fiction series "Smallville" films in Cloverdale because this farming community has a similar appearance to the mid-West United States).

Human Adaptation to the Environment
- The City has built dykes along the rivers to guard against flooding.
- Bridges have been built to get across rivers.
- Engineering techniques have been developed to allow construction of roads which allow for safe movement between the upland and lowland areas.

Human Modification of the Environment
- Forests have been cleared for urbanization/sub urbanization and industrialization.
- Urban runoff has an impact on the water quality of streams and rivers which impacts salmon stocks.
- Sewage disposal affects the water quality in the Fraser river. Upgrading of sewage treatment facilities from primary to secondary treatment reduces the negative effects.
- Industrial discharge affects water quality in the Fraser river.
- Over fishing on the Fraser river has impacted salmon stocks.
- The use of fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides on farms impacts groundwater quality.
- The growing number of cars impacts air quality.
- The city has built a lake near 152nd Street and 72nd Ave. to control drainage and provide recreational opportunities.
- The city has created detention ponds to help control and filter urban runoff.

Movement

- Surrey is linked to other communities in the Greater Vancouver area via highways (i.e. TransCanada Hwy., Fraser Hwy., Hwy. 99, Hwy. 10), Skytrain, buses, Fraser river boat traffic, etc.
- Surrey is connected to the United States via two border crossings.
- The people of Surrey interact with the rest of the world via the telephone, internet, newspapers, television, international trade, immigration, etc.
- Numerous farm products are sold to individuals from outside of Surrey.
- People around the world see movies/tv shows filmed in Surrey.
- The Cloverdale rodeo is a popular tourist attraction. Formerly, the PGA held an annual golf event in Surrey.

Regions

- Surrey is part of the Greater Vancouver Regional District (an economic region between the communities of Surrey, Delta, Richmond, New Westminster, Vancouver, Coquitlam, etc.).
- Surrey is part of British Columbia (a political region).
- Surrey is part of Cascadia (a developing regional alliance between British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon with common economic and environmental concerns).

Note: Looking at the World Thematic Maps on pages 12-35 in The Nystrom Canadian Desk Atlas, one can see numerous other regions that Surrey is a part of. For instance,
- Surrey is in a predominantly Christian region of the world (page 21).
- Surrey is in a predominantly Germanic language region (page 28) [Note: The English language has a Germanic origin].
- Surrey is in a region of the world with an acid rain potential (page 34).
- Surrey is in a region of the world where 95 to 100% of the people have access to safe drinking water (page 34).