Former B.C. premier Mike Harcourt says it is important to get cities right. In the 1800s, three percent of people lived in cities, now 50 percent of the world's population are urbanites. In 20 years, more than 500 cities will have populations of one million people.
Greater Sudbury was not planned. It just grew. Here. And there.
And there. A few years ago, a decision was made to sew all
these patches into one quilt. Every once in awhile there is a
tear in the urban fabric or a loose thread. It could unravel
quickly. But if citizens and the people who work for us at Tom
Davies Square are smart, creative, determined and lucky, we can
turn our patchwork quilt into a livable, sustainable city which
offers all it citizens, rich, poor and in between, a good
quality of life.
At least that is the plan. Last week about 150 community
leaders took part in a one-day working session about how to
make Greater Sudbury a better city, a more sustainable
community.
Planning discussions were held on economic initiatives, social
planning, the environment, and healthy living. The idea was to
brainstorm and let good ideas inspire better ones.
In February, the United Nations recognized the city as a
regional centre of expertise in sustainable development based
on our successful regreening efforts.
The keynote speaker was former British Columbia NDP premier
Mike Harcourt. He also served previously as the mayor of
Vancouver and as a city councillor. More recently, he was chair
of the prime minister's External Advisory Committee on Cities
and Communities (EACCC) which tabled the From Restless
Communities to Resilient Cities report last year. (The report
is available on the Internet.)
Harcourt is also the co-author of a book that will be published
in June called City Making in Paradise, which looks at the
things Vancouver did to reinvent itself since the 1948 flood of
the Fraser Valley.
Vancouver is the poster child of great cities. According to The
Economist, Vancouver was the most livable city in the world in
2005, followed by Melbourne, Vienna and Geneva in second place.
Toronto is fifth on the list; London and Los Angeles tied for
47th place with Dublin.
His message was simple enough: The people of great cities and
their leaders, have to develop a home-made plan of action, and
then have the will to carry it out.
Creating the kind of city we want will not come without a
stubborn determination to say no to unsustainable growth.
Single family homes with high utility bills and service costs, and gasoline-guzzling vehicles were great in 1970 but not 2070. We need to plan for and to educate consumers for this reality now.
"Cities are about making choices," Harcourt said, adding that
the wrong ones will have long lasting negative effects.
Harcourt said a Gardiner-like elevated expressway along the
waterfront was proposed for Vancouver in the 1960s. It would
have destroyed historical neighbourhoods. Vancouver said
no.
Instead of building expressways to take people out of the city
and home to the suburbs at the end of the day, Vancouver's
leaders made a plan to revitalize the downtown with high
density housing.
Today about 130,000 people live in downtown Vancouver.
Seventy-five percent of these people don't drive to work. They
walk, cycle or take public transit. In addition, the downtown
is alive after 5 pm, says Harcourt.
Seventy percent of land around Vancouver is greenspace
protected by law. (Barrie are you listening!) Thirty percent of
new housing for last 18 years is multi-family.
Harcourt said there is no cookie-cutter solution for cities.
Each must take into account its history, geography, culture,
traditions and people.
At the same time, the answers will not come from senior levels
of government, but only when community politicians work with
the province and Ottawa as equal players, he said.
He told his audience that planning for tomorrow is not about
forecasting but about 'backcasting', "looking at the Sudbury
you want and the Sudbury you don't want, and going down the
right path.
"You can make a choice for sprawl out into the farm lands
around the city" or not, he said. "And people (will have to)
drive cars, and build sewer and water pipes and roads…to the
suburbs," but that is not sustainable.
Will Greater Sudbury have the courage and foresight to say no
to unsustainable growth? I don't see any evidence of that yet.
But at least we are talking about doing the right thing.
Vicki Gilhula is the managing editor of Northern Life.
