Yeah, it's another one of these....
February 03, 2009
Wade Hemsworth
The Hamilton Spectator
(Feb 3, 2009)
Storm Cunningham has travelled the world studying cities and how they come back from hard times.
He has seen enough of Hamilton to form a strong belief that the city has all the ingredients it needs to renew itself.
Cunningham, who works out of Washington, D.C., is the author of two books on community renewal and a public speaker on the state of cities.
He is to speak tomorrow afternoon in a free public lecture at McMaster University.
Like many academic and private experts, he thinks Hamilton's scenic geography, its access to major land, air and water transport networks and its architectural heritage make it attractive for renewal.
Unlike many others, he sees its rich supply of brownfields -- the empty and sometimes contaminated sites of former industries and businesses -- as a strength.
"Most brownfields are in excellent locations. The reason they're brownfields in most cases, is because they've been in human use for a long time," he said.
"Why have they been in use for so long? Because they were the first to be settled. Why were they the first to be settled? Because they're in the best locations."
Cunningham's central belief is that the time of sprawl and environmental degradation is passing and being replaced by a "re" culture -- success comes from renewing, redeveloping and revitalizing existing resources.
Cities that come back are often associated with a prominent attraction, such as the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao or the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga.
But iconic buildings, said Cunningham, are the end products of improvement -- a fact often lost on municipal leaders.
A common element among cities that manage to bounce back, he said, is that they create some kind of permanent, non-profit, public-private entity to engage all stakeholders and develop a specific renewal process.
Though they are different in every city, such "renewal engines," Cunningham said, protect the agenda from single private interests or changes in government, creating stability and confidence that leads outside investors to feel comfortable investing.
Cunningham will be speaking tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. in Room 106 of McMaster's Burke Science Building.
Admission is free to the public, but guests are to register at 905-525-9140, ext. 26401, or
http://msep.mcmaster.ca/seminars/cunningham.html.
Another urban theorist reaffirms that we ought to be doing better - that's nothing new, but the part I bolded is what really rings true to me in this article.
I have imagined a corporate entity which brings together all available resources to aquire vacant buildings or land and match them with a profitable use and willing private investors. It would be publicly funded and accountable to city council but have a mandate to generate a positive rate of return on projects.
This is based on the assumption that renewal projects can generate profit, but the development industry does not conceptualize them because proven models exist elsewhere with greater returns and less risk. However if an independent organization can generate concepts and prove their feasibility, developers would come knocking more often.
Anyway, I don't know much about business or politics so I was interested in what this guy has to say. I probably won't make it though, seeing as it's at 12:30. Is anyone else considering going?
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