Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
embrace the season that is so central to our identity”
(CE
2013
, p. 2). Apart from
the many initiatives being promoted, it is worth noting that the report was devel-
oped with a great deal of citizen input, and claimed that the costs of implementing
these ideas are relatively limited. A key feature is the need to convince more people
of the need to embrace winter activity, as it is an 'attitude, not latitude approach' that
should motivate behaviour in this season. It is also noteworthy how the city is try-
ing to encourage private businesses and other organizations to contribute to the new
plans and to link the Winter City ideas to the other strategic themes of the develop-
ment of the city, rather than seeing it as a separate venture. In this way it becomes
part of what the city sees as Edmonton's distinctive brand.
However, the modification of settlements to be more reflective of winter is now
being challenged by the rapidity of global warming which seems to be affecting
the northern settlements more quickly. A negative effect of this trend could be an
increase in sea levels with their threat of the erosion of man-made structures in the
many northen towns alongside oceans, and an increase in the volatility of weather
conditions that can increase the severity of winter storms. However the northern
latitudes settlements will also need to adjust to longer and warmer summers, which
means that some sheltered places may now be able to grow more of their own veg-
etables for local use, whilst the fact of longer ice-free periods will increase the level
of economic activities such as fishing, even in small centres, and make it easier to
mine the vast minerals and oil reserves that are known to exist in northern regions
beyond the Arctic Circle—although opposition from environmentalist groups may
well halt many developments. In addition the rapidity of ice loss in the Canadian
and Russian Arctic means that the shorter North West and North East passages from
Europe to Asia may well become a reality in the next decade, after centuries of ex-
plorers trying to prove such routes (Davies
2004
). All these changes will probably
lead to an increase in the size and number of settlements in these largely uninhabited
northern lands, although the increasing creation of more fly-in and fly-out work
camps will probably be a more usual trend in really remote places than creating
new towns. Nevertheless any extension in settlements in the far north makes it even
more important to apply Winter City principles to counteract the effects of winter,
which will still occupy a major part of their year.
So far, the Winter City movement could be regarded one of the most successful
of the various themes developed to solve particular urban problems, in this case
cold-related ones, in order to improve the liveability and vitality of settlements.
Moreover, like many of the other themes associated with new approaches to urban
development, progress has been improved by the various global networks that con-
nect administrators, planners and academics interested in Winter City ideas, where
best practices can be applied elsewhere and new initiatives and problems of mutual
concern discussed. Yet it will take a long time to eradicate past mistakes in settle-
ments that experience winter, places that were badly planned to cope with these
conditions, let alone find better solutions in newly constructed areas of settlements
that experience severe winter conditions. It has been argued that better solutions
must involve a multi-faceted approach. In the words of one well known Winter
City advocate, if settlements that experience long, cold winters are to be successful
