When I finished my Bachelor degree in
Canada I refused to consider returning to school for a Masters. I was quite
over school, having gone straight from high school to university, I craved to
know a life outside of libraries, lectures and essays. University fills you
with these exciting ideas and makes you feel like you can solve global
problems. That first step into the working world put me in my place. A young early
twenty something fresh out of university is not going to be taken seriously nor
is she going to be given much responsibility! Wow, did I ever learn and fast.
Not having any internship/ work experience opportunities during my degree, I
was thrown into professional life where expectations were just as high but took
on a different form. Instead of pulling an A+ paper out of your head, you had
to mingle with building owners, and deliver the lines they wanted to hear in a
reassuring manner even though you didn’t agree with those lines.
I am referring to municipal policies on the
environment. While studying in school I rolled my eyes at the useless
legislation Alberta and the City of Edmonton were coming out with. They used
the latest terms like “Smart Growth,” “Sustainability,” and “Eating Local” but
their “frameworks” for actually living that way were so fake. Please note
that I am not picking on Edmonton
or Alberta, EVERY city and state does this including Sydney and New South
Wales. I am merely using Edmonton and Alberta as an example because I know it
well. It was quite ironic that one year I was sitting in class commenting about
how useless the City of Edmonton’s latest Municipal Plan was and then bam! The
next year I was working for the City of Edmonton in their long-term
sustainability department explaining to university business students the merits
of heritage conservation and it’s role in the long-term sustainability of
Edmonton!!!!!
The point I am making here, in a
round-about way, is that work experience gave me that reality check to
understand urban planning and design as it actually functions in practice.
Politics and money shape what policies cities develop and how effective they
are. That is the bottom line. The planning department may have all the answers
to a sprawling and drab city such as Edmonton, but if the money doesn’t support
those plans, and the politicians (guided by public support) do not get on board
with these plans, they will not happen!
Anyway, to make a long story short I see the
benefits of my two years spent in the work force, one year working for a
municipality and another year working in administration of a global oilfield
manufacturing company. I saw first hand how politics and economics ran both
sectors. And frankly, they were both incredibly limited by those factors. While
sitting in all of my lectures: Design, Law, Economics and Sustainability I rely
on my work experience to analyze the theories and concepts being discussed. It
is a huge relief that my Human Geography degree has covered ALL of these topics
and laid the foundation theories were are discussing now in classes.
Everyday reminds me that I found my
passion, and that I refuse to give up on that dreamer of a little girl who
walked into the City of Edmonton’s heritage department expecting to turn them
upside down! I have the toolbox; as I ranted about in the above post, so let’s
use it to really do good. Cities can grow in a healthy, and responsible way,
the technology is waiting for us. We need to kick our politicians in the bum
and wring a little more money out of global investors, who already have too
much money, and we can do it!
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