Towards Management Systems and Protocols - Evaluating Sustainable Development in the Built Environment - page 197

❏ The future of a particular city is intimately connected with the

well-being of other cities. The flows of materials, resources, finance
and information have impacts well beyond the city under exami-
nation. Responsible planning involves dialogue and alignment
with the interests of other urban and rural areas.

❏ Planning a large urban region is much more complex than plan-

ning for a neighbourhood or city. The challenge is to find common
ground and move beyond abstract generalisations.

❏

The adaptive management framework and integrated design proc-
ess provides a transferable model for long-term planning.

❏ It is important to create opportunities for big thoughts that can

produce big plans. Taking the long view and imagining one urban
system has changed the way the participants see their city/region
and the way they see themselves.

❏ Competition with others brought out the best. As Ron Clark,

President and CEO of SaskEnergy, said of the Vancouver study:

'The Process generated informed choices. It is not about seeing the
future, and it's certainly not about guaranteeing an outcome, but it is
about defining a rich and intellectually robust and defensible proc-
ess. Win, lose or draw, we've already gained immensely'.

There is much in this case study from which all cities can learn and in
investigating such approaches it may be possible to develop generic
and yet flexible methodologies which will allow comparisons and
evaluations to be made across national and international boundaries.
In turn this will allow the body of knowledge regarding sustainable
development to build into a robust source of information which will
benefit countries and communities around the world.

Follow through on the Vancouver study

Now that a decade has passed it is possible to reflect on the CitiesPLUS
study and examine the problems and the successes of the approach.
The study was a formal collaboration, owned by many, but with the
regional government playing a key role as a secretariat, participant and
sponsor. Leaders within that government provided leadership,
embraced sustainability principles and became thoroughly involved
with the exercise. The senior people within the Greater Vancouver
region established a parallel internal process called the 'Sustainable
Region Initiative' which is still ongoing and which adopted the same
planning framework which had been established for the CitiesPlus
project. However, just as the CitiesPlus study came to an end and was
poised to establish a clear set of new directions for the region, a local
election produced a whole new regional board and, as is typical, felt no