[8] The BRPC envisioned metrotowns as "cohesive urban developments... deployed radially and in a series of rings around the City of Baltimore", each accommodating 100,000 to 200,000 people and at greater densities than what was then common in suburban areas.

[9][10] Archer adapted the term in his two-part article From New Towns to Metrotowns and Regional Cities, which appeared in the July 1969 issue of The American Journal of Economics and Sociology,[11] to refer to "a unit for planned metropolitan development" consisting of a wide variety of land uses and offering "a large measure of local employment and city-type services", but still "significantly interdependent with the rest of the metropolis".

[12] He further suggested that building a connected series of metrotowns was the most cost-effective manner for establishing new urban settlements,[11] and saw developments around Stockholm like Vällingby and Högdalen as examples of this type of built form.

On the recommendation of Colonel Richard Moody, the Royal Engineers constructed a trail linking colonial capital New Westminster and False Creek to facilitate troop movement between the two points.

[14][15] The trail (which later became Kingsway) opened in 1860, and cut diagonally across Burrard Peninsula;[14] land was set aside as a military reserve at a plateau along the road in the area of modern-day Metrotown.

[14][15] The road was improved following Burnaby's municipal incorporation in 1892, and the parallel Central Park interurban line connecting Vancouver and New Westminster opened the previous year, making the area increasingly favourable for settlement.

[15] During the Great Depression, Burnaby reeve William Pritchard instituted a series of make-work programs to put the unemployed to work, using municipal funds and loans.

[20] In this document, Burnaby's planners proposed a hierarchical structure for co-locating housing, commercial activity and other amenities, with a "town centre" level as the highest tier.

[21][22] The planners further identified three sites around the municipality as candidates to be developed into town centres: Brentwood, Lougheed and the area around the Simpsons-Sears facility at Kingsway and Sussex Avenue.

[23][24] However, by 1974, the planners decided instead to create only one metro town, for fear that having multiple such developments (as recommended by Urban Structure) would divide the municipality's focus and drain its resources.

[29][30] The site's location along the disused Central Park interurban was also considered favourable, as the GVRD was proposing to build a light rail transit system (which eventually became the SkyTrain) along that right of way.

[35] "Orchard Park" was the leading candidate until the contest was called off by mayor Bill Lewarne, citing the expense associated with updating the literature already printed which promoted the area as Metrotown.

The Crystal Mall complex opened at Kingsway and Willingdon Avenue between 1999 and 2000,[48] incorporating an Asian-themed shopping centre, residential and commercial highrises, and a Hilton hotel.

[4][51] Central Park sits at the western edge of Metrotown, and includes amenities such as tennis courts, an outdoor swimming pool, a pitch-and-putt golf course, and Swangard Stadium at its northwestern corner.