Planning Pool

This afternoon in Niagara there are a variety of mobile workshops and concurrent sessions. I’m at a “Building the Regional City” panel featuring Vancouver’s Ann McAfee, as well as Kathryn Friedman, Deputy Director of University of Buffalo’s Regional Institute, and Francis Gentoral, Regional Manager for the Canadian Urban Institute in Southeast Asia. This panel is focusing on regional cities that cross municipal, state/provincial, and even international boundaries.

McAfee compares Vancouver and Melbourne as examples of liveable cities but has different governance structures. The Vancouver has 22 municipalities. Metro Melbourne has a larger regional population and 32 municipalities, but an older built environment and a smaller downtown population. Melbourne’s limiting factor is water.

Unlike Vancouver, Melbourne has no metro government and the state presents regional plans without public engagement. But, both regions have similar goals, namely to diversify the economy, nurture local business, … Continue Reading

Twisted as it may sound, there are clear gains to be made from this Great Recession, especially in the eyes of a regionalist like myself.  Planners are all too aware of the massive infrastructure projects that will be given the go-ahead for their stimulative economic properties (meaning more need for planning staff), but that’s not really what I’m talking about.  Instead, this is really about values.

I’m a fan of structural change.  In fact, though it probably earns me a reputation as a boundless idealist, I find concentrated alteration of the systems and infrastructure which frame society more reasonable than any deliberate effort to shift public consciousness.  As planners, we can only empower people to make prudent decisions, but must accept that social values are uneasily moved.  This said, a pharmacist in Alabama has given me a little hope.

NBC … Continue Reading