A Convenience Truth
Mon, 11/14/2011 - 14:59
In the fall of 2010, seventeen students from both the UBC School of Community and Regional Planning (SCARP) and the UBC School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (SALA) combined to produce a 2050 plan for the City of Vancouver. We are pleased to release the results of a very intense UBC collaborative studio in book form, and to make copies of this book available to members of UDI.
Many people think of Vancouver as North America’s most sustainable city. Yet this success derives largely from the redevelopment of industrial lands for housing, most of these lands confined to the downtown peninsula. With these lands essentially used up, with a need to protect the city's remaining industrial lands, with growth pressures unabated, and with housing never less affordable, the big question looms: what next?
The urgency of this question has been expressed volubly and frequently at city hall, first within the Clouds of Change Report (1990),and more recently within the Eco-Density Charter (2008) and the Greenest City initiative (2010). All of these require that we become a more equitable, more social, more efficient, and more affordable city. Virtually every citizen in the city agrees with these goals. Where it gets tricky is when you ask how to reach these goals.
It becomes even trickier when you ask where to reach these goals. This is where this book comes in. The book shows where we might grow, and what it would look like if we did. The faculty and students of SCARP and SALA offer this document as a modest contribution to our common goal: insuring that this city continues to lead the world toward a more sustainable future.
But student investigations, however interesting, often ignore the political and practical constraints that UDI members deal with daily. To ensure that this book is relevant, it is grounded in reality. The reality is that it will take decades to grow and change this city towards sustainability; we assume that we are looking at a city post 2050. The reality is that our population, while growing fast, is also growing old; we assume a 250% increase in the number of elderly by 2050, and that housing and serving this cohort will constitute the single largest challenge to the city. But the ultimate reality is this: we have an obligation to the planet and to our grandchildren to reduce our per capita production of greenhouse gases by 80%; in our plan, an entirely electric transit system and a city wide zero carbon district heating system are the means to this end.
And what does it all add up to in human terms? In short, it’s a convenience truth. What the students discovered, as they explored the question more deeply each week, was that as the city becomes more efficient, more diverse, more intensely utilized, more equitable and more delightful, it also becomes a more convenient place to live. New more affordable housing options exist for young families and the old. Naturalized recreation networks and "green streets" are brought close to every home. Getting around is easier, cheaper, accessible to all, and carbon free.
Finally and most importantly it’s affordable. The gradual evolution of the 'convenient city' can and should be financed by the gradual growth, conversion and re-conversion of the city itself. The eventual doubling of the number of housing units in the city, and the consequent doubling of job sites and commercial services that must accompany this growth, will generate hundreds of billions of dollars worth of economic activity. Smart and effective partnerships between the private sector and the city will supply the money needed to execute such a vision. The trick lies in how wisely we spend it.
Patrick Condon and Scot Hein Editors
Contributions by:
James Tuer SALA adjunct professor
SALA Masters in Landscape Architecture
Students Jia Cheng, Rebecca Colter, James
Godwin, Cindy Hung, Lisa Lang, Paula
Livingstone, Niall MacRae, Sara Orchard, Neda
Roohnia, Margaret M. Soulstein, Jingjing Sun,
Nicci Theroux, Peiqi Wang, and Mary W
For a copy of the book: A Convenience Truth please contact UDI.
In the fall of 2010, seventeen students from both the UBC School of Community and Regional Planning (SCARP) and the UBC School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (SALA) combined to produce a 2050 plan for the City of Vancouver. We are pleased to release the results of a very intense UBC collaborative studio in book form, and to make copies of this book available to members of UDI.
Many people think of Vancouver as North America’s most sustainable city. Yet this success derives largely from the redevelopment of industrial lands for housing, most of these lands confined to the downtown peninsula. With these lands essentially used up, with a need to protect the city's remaining industrial lands, with growth pressures unabated, and with housing never less affordable, the big question looms: what next?
The urgency of this question has been expressed volubly and frequently at city hall, first within the Clouds of Change Report (1990),and more recently within the Eco-Density Charter (2008) and the Greenest City initiative (2010). All of these require that we become a more equitable, more social, more efficient, and more affordable city. Virtually every citizen in the city agrees with these goals. Where it gets tricky is when you ask how to reach these goals.
It becomes even trickier when you ask where to reach these goals. This is where this book comes in. The book shows where we might grow, and what it would look like if we did. The faculty and students of SCARP and SALA offer this document as a modest contribution to our common goal: insuring that this city continues to lead the world toward a more sustainable future.
But student investigations, however interesting, often ignore the political and practical constraints that UDI members deal with daily. To ensure that this book is relevant, it is grounded in reality. The reality is that it will take decades to grow and change this city towards sustainability; we assume that we are looking at a city post 2050. The reality is that our population, while growing fast, is also growing old; we assume a 250% increase in the number of elderly by 2050, and that housing and serving this cohort will constitute the single largest challenge to the city. But the ultimate reality is this: we have an obligation to the planet and to our grandchildren to reduce our per capita production of greenhouse gases by 80%; in our plan, an entirely electric transit system and a city wide zero carbon district heating system are the means to this end.
And what does it all add up to in human terms? In short, it’s a convenience truth. What the students discovered, as they explored the question more deeply each week, was that as the city becomes more efficient, more diverse, more intensely utilized, more equitable and more delightful, it also becomes a more convenient place to live. New more affordable housing options exist for young families and the old. Naturalized recreation networks and "green streets" are brought close to every home. Getting around is easier, cheaper, accessible to all, and carbon free.
Finally and most importantly it’s affordable. The gradual evolution of the 'convenient city' can and should be financed by the gradual growth, conversion and re-conversion of the city itself. The eventual doubling of the number of housing units in the city, and the consequent doubling of job sites and commercial services that must accompany this growth, will generate hundreds of billions of dollars worth of economic activity. Smart and effective partnerships between the private sector and the city will supply the money needed to execute such a vision. The trick lies in how wisely we spend it.
Patrick Condon and Scot Hein Editors
Contributions by:
James Tuer SALA adjunct professor
SALA Masters in Landscape Architecture
Students Jia Cheng, Rebecca Colter, James
Godwin, Cindy Hung, Lisa Lang, Paula
Livingstone, Niall MacRae, Sara Orchard, Neda
Roohnia, Margaret M. Soulstein, Jingjing Sun,
Nicci Theroux, Peiqi Wang, and Mary W
For a copy of the book: A Convenience Truth please contact UDI.