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Foreword
This paper is part of Turning Ideas into Action, a themed series created in preparation for the 2006 World Urban Forum. Together, this series forms a mosaic that sheds light on a common focus: the city. On a global scale, cities have become the dominant form of human settlement, socially, economically, environmentally and politically. The papers begin to examine how cities can continue to be dynamic and inclusive places in which to live and thrive. By illustrating explorations of the city with powerful stories of promising practices, the papers emphasize the assets from which cities draw their strength, and highlight dynamic participatory processes in action. Research for each paper draws on extensive experience in planning and managing cities. Selected lessons provide knowledge to achieve locally relevant solutions and supportive policies at the regional, national and global levels. They demonstrate the complexities of how cities evolve and transform, and challenge assumptions that are often taken for granted. Finally, the papers encourage the reader to view the world from different perspectives and discover successful and innovative solutions appropriate to their relevant conditions.
WUF 2006 will build on Canada's historic leadership in bringing the UN Conference on Human Settlements to Vancouver in 1976. It will also benefit from Canadian experience in improving human settlements at home and abroad. The 1976 UN meeting pioneered a participatory process of member nations and NGO's, and created a worldwide focus for human settlements issues through the establishment of the UN Centre for Human Settlements in Nairobi, now known as UN-HABITAT. WUF 2006 is part of an historic trajectory of UN Conferences and represents the 30 th anniversary of HABITAT '76. These papers are intended to initiate an informed dialogue on the scope and scale of the evolving urban agenda through Turning Ideas into Action locally, regionally, nationally and across the world.
This paper is one of a series of discussion papers prepared in anticipation of the World Urban Forum 2006.
The papers in this series include:
The Capable City
The International Centre for Sustainable Cities
This paper examines non-traditional forms of governance with an emphasis on consensus that has emerged in a Canadian context and responds to three questions. Are there models of cooperation across jurisdictions that might provide lessons for city regions that do not require mergers? Are there models for management of global common goods – such as watersheds, that do not involve legislative powers? Are there models based on consensus and voluntary agreements across sectors that show promise for influencing decision making related to sustainability? Three Canadian cases are presented: the Greater Vancouver Regional District; the Fraser Basin Council; and the National Round Table on the Environment and Economy. The models are assessed using UN-HABITAT's criteria for good governance. The findings, along with pertinent literature and experience on governance and capacity building, yield observations and recommendations about their application to other cities.
The Ideal City
Department of Art History, Visual Art and Theory, University of British Columbia
This paper explores the history and force of ideal city planning and the related literary and visual genres of Utopian -- and Dystopian -- speculation. The Ideal City represents a highly significant aspect of human thought and endeavour, usually conceived in response to actual problems as well as intended to effect substantive improvement in the daily social lives of individual citizens. Linked to a thematic knowledge resource intended to establish an interactive website, this paper reviews the main constituents of the Ideal City tradition, examines its impact on the design of urban settlement, including across Canada and in Vancouver, and indicates how such conceptual approaches to the building of a better civic environment and society can contribute to the creation of more sustainable, habitable and civilized cities in the 21st century.
The Learning City
Simon Fraser University
The learning city is a city that approaches sustainable development as an ongoing educational process. This paper focuses particularly on the role of universities and colleges in the learning city, examining the different dimensions of sustainability education and best practices from British Columbia, across Canada and internationally. Lessons from this are applied to envisioning a new Centre for the Learning City in Vancouver's new Great Northern Way Campus.
The Livable City
The International Centre for Sustainable Cities
This paper is a case study of the Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD) in Canada, the host region for the World Urban Forum 2006. Drawing on the literature on livable cities and the region's efforts to bring this concept into practice, the paper poses two central questions: What key factors affect the livability of a city and how does livability relate to sustainability? Livability is defined as "quality of life" as experienced by the residents within a city or region, and the paper concentrates on a case study of planning for Greater Vancouver including the Livable Region Strategic Plan, the Sustainable Region Initiative, and the cities PLUS 100-year vision for the GVRD. The paper provides lessons for other cities and regions, and concludes that for Greater Vancouver, livability, sustainability and resiliency are three intertwined elements that together will define the quality of life of current and future residents.
The Planning City
The Canadian Institute of Planners
This paper looks at sustainability as a dynamic, continuous process of sharing and exchanging knowledge and experiences, and of learning through action. It contributes to this learning process by reviewing key trends and challenges that confront those responsible for planning cities in Canada and overseas. Examples of urban planning innovations and experimentations are drawn from a sample of cities and taken from the perspective of the urban planner who is usually a central actor in efforts to articulate, plan for and implement urban sustainability. The paper concludes with key findings, and offers direction about processes, structures and methods that could enhance the effort to achieve urban sustainability.
The Resilient City
Ministry of Community, Aboriginal and Women's Services, Government of British Columbia
This paper explores the resiliency of small Canadian communities dependent upon single resource industries by examining how they have coped with the economic and social pressures arising from the closure of their industries. It summarizes how they have managed their transition from communities existing to serve resource exploitation exclusively to communities based on a different, broader economy and suggests lessons from the Canadian experience that may be transferable to resource-based communities around the world.
The Secure City
Liu Institute for Global Issues, UBC
This paper focuses on three key issues: traditional pillars of urban security, threats and forces shaping cities in the 21 st Century, and a research agenda to explore relationships between adaptive security, preventive security and human security. Action is called for to advance current concepts of capacity building, resilient design and adaptive planning. Integrated risk assessment that is responsive to community needs for prevention and precaution is recommended, and an enhanced role for individual responsibility and community participation to expand social capital is advocated. The Secure City sets a context for Canada's emerging national urban agenda and a policy framework for global strategies to improve human security in cities throughout the world.
The Youth Friendly City
The Environmental Youth Alliance
This paper explores what opportunities exist for the greater recognition of the rights and needs of children and youth in urban settings through a significantly enhanced role in urban governance and community building. By enabling children and youth to participate fully in their own development and environment, this paper demonstrates the potential among youth for building capacity, and for becoming insightful resources in developing strong and thriving local neighbourhoods and cities.