Vancouver planning expert brings message of high density to OttawaTuesday, March 1, 2011
By MARIA COOK
Ottawa Citizen
Larry Beasley of Beasley and Associates with a model of a development he planned in Vancouver. Beasely, acclaimed former City of Vancouver chief planner, is now a jet-setting urban design superstar working in some of the most unlikely and unfamiliar places.
OTTAWA — The secret to winning public acceptance for higher-density development is good design, community benefit and a process to resolve neighbours’ concerns, says the retired director of planning for the City Vancouver.
Larry Beasley spoke on Tuesday to about 60 members of City of Ottawa staff and city council on “The Vancouver Model: Counter-Intuitive Ideas That May Be Relevant in Ottawa.”
“The enterprise of inventing your civic future should be focused on one prime objective — quality of life,” because it brings competitive advantage, economic development, tranquility and sustainability, he said.
He will give a free public lecture on Wednesday at 6 p.m. at the National Gallery of Canada on “Ottawa’s Quest to Be a World-Leading Green Capital.”
Beasley was made a member of the Order of Canada in recognition for having played a leading role in transforming Vancouver’s downtown core into a “vibrant, livable urban community.”
Vancouver has one of the fastest growing residential downtowns in North America; its inner-city population grew from 47,000 in 1986 to 105,000 in 2010. It is considered to have one of the smallest ecological footprints on the continent.
The city has fostered high-rise, high density development for all kinds of households — singles, young marrieds, adults, seniors and families with children; nearly 8,000 children live downtown, with 25 per cent of high-density units specifically designed for families.
“It dawned on us that if we could build our city as a sustainable place but also a place that truly appealed to people — yes, a place that is dense and diverse and walkable — but, more importantly … a place that is exciting and stylish and supportive and has real soul ... then people would spontaneously choose it.”
That’s not to suggest that the size and form of Vancouver’s new development is suitable for Ottawa.
“Every city has its own DNA, in terms of needs and scale and history and community tolerances and the working of its economy,” said Beasley.
“Ottawa is a different scale with a different destiny,” he said. “Every city needs its own unique solutions — cities need to work at staying vividly different. That’s how we avoid the bad side of globalization.”
Ottawa’s Greenbelt is “an absolute treasure,” he said. “I would not be selling off the Greenbelt. I wouldn’t call it the Greenbelt anymore (because the city has grown beyond it.)
“It’s the green lung. It’s the respite you’re going to get when the city gets bigger and bigger.”
Vancouver also brought greater density to the suburbs by legalizing secondary suites within existing homes, allowing new laneway homes, granny flats and other rear yard infill, row houses on some streets and a revival of three to six storey buildings clustered on and near the local commercial streets.
They call it “invisible density.”
“It’s the game of moving from the 10 units per acre to the 40 units per acre that we know is the threshold of workable density for sustainable urban structure and public transportation,” he said.
“It deals with NIMBYism in a respectful way, acknowledging that people are against development for good reasons, since much of it has been so bad and so impactful on people who receive few benefits.”
New housing was tied to fulfilment of residents’ needs, such as where they will live locally when they are older and want out of the big house.
By allowing greater density, the city expects to share in the increased value of the land.
“We look to new development to pay for the public infrastructure that is demanded by that development,” Beasley explained.
“This requires the regulatory system to include many bonuses and incentives so that regulation is not just about policing, it is also about genuine wealth creation.
“Our process has to conjure up absolutely new wealth for a developer, so that some of that can be invested in the commonwealth of the city.”
Quality design is key.
It “allows the density to work and be attractive to consumers,” said Beasley. “The density generates great economic value and profits; and this value also pays for amenities and facilities — all of which can entice people to a truly urban lifestyle and a truly sustainable lifestyle.”
The city used large brownfield sites mostly on the waterfront to create new neighbourhoods. “I can’t say enough about how important it is to be deliberate about how you use those once-in-a-lifetime special sites.”
New development puts pressure on heritage areas, he noted. “But these heritage areas are absolutely vital to a city’s character. You can’t let new development patterns and heritage come into conflict.” The city offers incentives for heritage conservation.
Rather than roads, the city invested in transit, bike paths, walkways and ferries. Many people walk to work and shopping. “Proximity works better than even the best technological alternatives to the car.”
There is public consultation at each stage of a development. “This involves an aggressive commitment by the city to reconcile differences among interest groups and broker compromises and accords that allow change to occur with all the necessary quid pro quos in place,” he said.
City staff negotiate “good neighbour agreements” with the owners of a new development to respond to local community concerns such as noise and traffic.
Development approvals are done by appointed officials, who are experts in their fields. They are advised by a professional design panel and a citizens’ panel.
“Vancouver has evolved from a time of absolute strife — battles between citizens and developers, between developers and the City, and among interest groups — to a time where it is a lot more about bringing people together.
“We are moving to a time when we are actually starting to design our cities again as an explicit act of creation ... where our cities will strive to differentiate themselves, not accept cookie-cutter replications of what’s being done everywhere else.
“Collaboration will be essential among the environmental design professions, the development industry, citizens and government to build urban places and smart urban products that are attractive to consumers on their own terms.”Larry Beasley’s questions for Ottawa
• How are we doing in the re-population of downtown Ottawa and sites nearby like LeBreton Flats?
• Is there a different approach that should be taken as the federal government starts to redevelop or further develop the huge federal office employment nodes throughout the capital region, like Confederation Heights and Tunney’s Pasture? These may be the key opportunities to show the new way of building Ottawa for the future.
• Are the transportation priorities right in Ottawa? Perhaps there is a land-use management strategy that needs to be coupled with the public transit plan to make sure the consumer base is there to make the system viable and economic.
• What kind of potential is there for the further filling out and consolidation of Ottawa’s suburbs rather than seeing them simply continue to sprawl out into the countryside? Is the target for new development inside and outside the Greenbelt the right target?
• Is the role of the Greenbelt changing and how can it help to support the right kind of urban development in the future?
• What is the preferred character of Ottawa and has the new urban design plan captured this and is the new urban design panel helping to achieve this?
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