A few hundred urban professionals and citizens with an interest in urban issues met at the Vancouver Playhouse yesterday for the 2012 Vancouver Urban Forum, hosted by former Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan and his Global Civic Policy Society, and right on the heels of his recent Public Salon we covered a couple weeks ago.
Sullivan opened the conference by asking everyone to "please turn your phones on," emphasizing the growing inclusion of social media to add a level of interactivity to otherwise 'sit and listen' forums. The event even had a dedicated Twitter Table, or 'twable' to engage the discussion on twitter. For more, check out the #VUF tag or my live-tweets from the event!
James Cheng, Edward Glaeser, and Sam Sullivan at the Vancouver Urban Forum
Great words by Edward Glaeser @triumphofcity “Knowledge is more important than space” “We get smart by being around other smart people” #VUF— Robert W. White (@rbrtwhite) June 6, 2012
Edward Glaeser, author of Triumph of the City, at the Vancouver Urban Forum
The conference, focusing on the Fourth Wave of Urban Reform, asked presenters to specifically discuss insights, ideas, and opportunities for achieving urban densification. In the land of EcoDensity (another one of Sullivan’s initiatives), density can still sometimes be a four-letter word, as California Urban Planner Dan Zack reminded us – but it’s also the smart (and only) way to grow in our region, bounded by water, mountains, agricultural land reserve, and the US border.
Dan Zack at the Vancouver Urban Forum
Zack raised a few other excellent points during his talk on Designing Delightful Density, including an emphasis on Lovability. Ask the people what they find desirable and enjoyable, find examples to demonstrate this, and design it right! Density doesn't always mean tall glass towers, as The Village has shown us.
The lineup of presenters at the Vancouver Urban Forum was pretty epic. Just take a look at this list:
Edward Glaeser, Harvard Professor of Urban Economics, author of Triumph of the City.
Alan Broadbent, founder of Maytree Foundation, Toronto-based author of Urban Nation.
Gil Penalosa, founder of 8-80 Cities, former municipal leader of Bogotá.
Bill Rees, developer of the Ecological Footprint Analysis and UBC School of Community and Regional Planning.
James Lightbody, University of Alberta, author of City Politics Canada.
Dan Zack, a city planner from Redwood California who is making waves among residents groups with his “Delightful Density” presentation.
Barb Justason, of Justason Market Intelligence, a respected polling firm in Vancouver.
Prof. Max Cameron, UBC Political Science, Director of the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions.
Wade Grant, Council Member of the Musqueam Council Economic Development Administrative Coordinator of the Musqueam Indian Band.
Shauna Sylvester, Director of the Carbon Talks at SFU.
Patrick Condon, UBC School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture.
Matthew Soules, UBC School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture.
Aldyen Donnelly, Greenhouse Emissions Management Consortium.
Brent Toderian, Chief Planner City of Vancouver 2006 – 2012.
Andrew Ramlo, Executive Director of Urban Futures Inc.
Trevor Boddy, Architecture Critic and Urbanist.
Alan Boniface, Principal of Dialog and Chair of Urban Land Institute.
James Cheng, world renowned Vancouver-based architect.
Lance Berelowitz, Principal Urban Forum Associates and author Dream City.
Stephanie Chang, UBC School of Community and Regional Planning.
Leslie Van Duzer, Director UBC School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture.
Penny Gurstein, Director UBC School of Community and Regional Planning.
Gordon Price, Director of the Simon Fraser University City Program.
Gil Peñalosa: The Danish people, once cold and reserved, are now more Italian than the Italians! #VUF @Penalosa_G twitpic.com/9tjjxx— Robert W. White (@rbrtwhite) June 6, 2012
Gil Peñalosa, one of my favourite speakers on urban issues, gave another delightfully engaging presentation sharing the knowledge he gained in his years as Commissioner of Parks and Recreation in Bogotá, Columbia (world-renowned for its exceptional rapid-bus network and cycling culture). The thought-provoking introduction to his 8-80 Cities presentation began by pointing out that we humans have become experts at creating habitats for animals, but we still struggle when it comes to making excellent habitats for our fellow man.
Lance Berelowitz at the Vancouver Urban Forum, “Vancouver can’t afford to ignore the suburbs.”
Trevor Boddy: Vancouver is a one-industry city: Real-Estate. But also idea-producing, “Meme City” #VUF twitpic.com/9ti5yo— Robert W. White (@rbrtwhite) June 6, 2012
Vancouver's own Trevor Boddy pointed out that while Vancouver is a one-industry city (that industry being real-estate), perhaps we're also a place for the creation of new ideas: a Meme City, as he calls it. Some of our notable exports include Greenpeace, Cyberspace, Generation X (thank you Douglas Coupland!), Occupy (Adbusters), and of course Vancouverism - one of only two city 'isms' in North America (the other being Manhattanism)
One of the many highlights of the day was the delightful performance by Heather Dotto, Rena Sharon, and Tracy Satterfield.
To learn more, you can catch up on the conversation on Twitter at #VUF or my live-tweets. Also, some of the presentations from the Vancouver Urban Forum will be broadcast at a future date on Shaw TV Channel 4.
