Smart Cities, by Way of Not-so-Smart Ones
FFWD Weekly recently ran a piece on Plan It, Calgary’s proposed urban development plan. The plan seeks to address Calgary’s present reliance on unbridled expansion into suburban sprawl, as the economic, environmental and societal costs of this “strategy” are quickly becoming unmanageable. Take a look at this summary of the plan.
I probably don’t need to say that I think these are all excellent ideas, and sorely needed in this city.
FFWD asked a number of city politicians to voice their opinions on the plan. While most of them sound like pretty normal political infighting (“it’s a great plan! we need to move forward!” / “it’s stupid! let the free market decide!”), one in particular caught my attention. Says Ray Jones of Ward 5:
I have a gut feeling to vote no because I’m kind of more on the development industry’s side on this one. They create a lot of jobs for a lot of people and, in particular, I’ve got two kids that are in the industry. I think jobs are a very important part of livelihoods.
That he seems blissfully unaware of everything that’s wrong with that statement is, to say the least, a little concerning. On the one hand, he’s saying that if it comes down to the industry lobby vs. his constituents, he’ll side with the industry. This in and of itself is alarming, but it’s unfortunately nothing new in politics (remember Hillary’s “lobbyists represent real Americans”?) But add to that his frank admission that he’s taking this position at least in part because family members of his work in the industry, and you have what should be cause for outrage.
The city council is set to vote on Plan It in June, although there have been attempts by opponents to delay the vote until the fall. Though we can hope the council takes the opportunity to bring the city into the 21st century, it seems likely that even if they decide to, they’ll have to drag it kicking and screaming: the Canadian Home Builders Association recently conducted a survey of Calgary residents, and the results are somewhat disheartening. From the Association’s website:
[...] it is clear that our citizens are ready to accept some degree of change in the pursuit of greater sustainability. The one thing that hasn’t changed however is Calgarians’ overwhelming preference for a single family home and a personal automobile to meet their daily needs.
Clearly there’s some level of cognitive dissonance going on here. What kind of “change” are you willing to accept in the pursuit of sustainability if the two core roadblocks to sustainability in your city are too sacred to even reconsider?
The outlook for Calgary may uncertain, but it seems other cities are doing interesting things in the interest of sustainability and livability: Montreal yesterday unveiled Bixi, its new public bike system. For 78$ a year, you get access to 300 bike rental stations littered throughout the downtown area and adjacent neighborhoods. Pick up your bike at any one of the stations, and you get a half-hour of free use, after which you start paying extra. When you’re done, you can return the bike to any of the stations (which, by the way, are solar powered). This seems like a great idea, especially for a city like Montreal with a lot of cyclists and densely populated communities packed in close to the downtown core.
Further afield, the New York Times ran an article yesterday about Vauban, a suburb of Freiburg, Germany, which was developed to be car-free. Though the idea of a car-free suburb sounds like a contradiction in terms, it appears that Vauban is making it work. The community is built lengthwise along a central street (the only one where cars are allowed, and also the street on which the community’s tram runs), so every house is a reasonable walking or biking distance from public transit.
Although people move to the community largely for environmental reasons, what they seem most happy with is how safe an environment it is for their kids, given the drastically reduced chance of traffic accidents. Combined with the reduced noise and the advantages of suburban life, it seems like it would be a great place to live and raise a family. I’d love to see this development model replicated elsewhere.
Well-designed cities are one of our most powerful weapons in the fight against climate change in addition to having a host of other economic and societal benefits, so it’s great to see some cities taking the lead in implementing courageous new ideas, even as others falter. If the smartest cities can present a convincing example of what lies to gain, the rest of the world will surely follow.
