Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
commitment or excitement around the CitiesPlus idea. It fell to the 'not
invented here syndrome' and as a new board they felt they had to do
something different. There followed a period of around 2 years when
the study and its proposals were largely ignored. It illustrates the fact
that while local government seems the most appropriate promoter and
leader in long-term planning (as they have the greatest credibility
and have the mandate that best fits), they have also become volatile
and short term in their thinking as a consequence of the election cycles.
This complaint can be repeated around the world and is a major nega-
tive force in implementing sustainable development which demands a
long- term view.
However, it would be wrong to see CitiesPLUS as a failure for
Vancouver. It just took longer to establish. The ideas and processes
behind it have developed a force of their own. Even the language
invented by the team (end-state goals, catalyst projects, pathways that
combine forecasting and backcasting, resilience by design, etc.) have
become a part of the local planning culture. CitiesPLUS helped new
ideas achieve currency and helped the leaders throughout the bureauc-
racy become familiar and comfortable with new approaches. The peo-
ple who have recently completed the exciting new Regional Growth
Strategy for the region were intimately involved with CitiesPlus and
continue to present the slides and ideas to visiting groups and inte-
grated the ideas into their latest plans. The excellent Eco-Density initia-
tive for the City of Vancouver was crafted with the help of the staff of
Sheltair (who played a major part in the developing CitiesPLUS, led by
Sebastian Moffatt) and by a mayor who valued the study and so it goes
on. The thinking behind the study permeates the thinking of the region
even though it may not be implemented under the CitiesPLUS name.
Perhaps the most interesting and exciting aspect, however, is the
influence the study is having on cities outside the Vancouver region.
Sometimes a distant view can provide insights which establish its true
worth. A few examples might illustrate:
❏
Within Canada, presentations were made to many other cities on
CitiesPLUS during and after the study and to seven federal depart-
ments, and subsequently CitiesPLUS became the new approach to
progressive planning. It was the one that all participants decided
to promote. It was adopted completely by the University of British
Columbia Centre for Sustainable Design and it became the specific
model for defining the Integrated Community Sustainability Plans
which are now occurring across Canada. Other cities are building
upon the CitiesPLUS model in many respects and with impressive
results, for example, Imagine Calgary www.imaginecalgary.ca
❏
In Auckland, New Zealand, the regional government investigated
the use of long-term planning tools and compared 26 examples
worldwide, narrowing down to a short list of six for further
Search WWH ::
Custom Search