Okay okay the title is so cheesy! If you can think of another one, please let me know!
Imagine my relief during the Master of
Planning orientation day back in February when the director of the program said
Canada and Australia share very similar planning backgrounds. I was relieved
that I wouldn’t hit a huge learning curve from the outset of the program, and
my relief validated again in my law class. My law professor said that Canada
and Australia also have a tendency to make plans and grant development
decisions based first on its alignment with laws and policy, followed by
judgment on the development’s merit.
I think that is a bad way to start, our
city development is based on the interpretation of law and guidelines, not how
well a development fits into its surroundings! Or how well it suits the
community’s needs! Remembering this important point, I stumbled across a book
in the UNSW Library about Vancouver. Conveniently, I never noticed the book
while I was home in Canada or while I was in Vancouver! Vancouver is Canada’s
only world city, and it regularly tops the lists of “most livable cities” along
side Melbourne and Copenhagen, etc. The book titled The Vancouver Achievement
studies the city’s achievements in urban design developed from its unique
discretionary zoning system.
From what I understand of discretionary
zoning, it is a form of merit based planning. Zoning is adjusted to the plan
according to the needs of the project, should the project be that valuable to its
community. This book addresses how Vancouver broke out of regulation-based
planning that limits development in Canada and Australia. I excitedly borrowed
the book planning to read it for pure interest rather than any use to my
papers… However reading one-third of the book already, I see this book being an
anchor in most of my papers this semester. I intend to read all 400 pages
before I have to return the book in 3 weeks time. Very interesting!
Let’s see if it can offer an incite into
how NSW and its current planning reforms stack up to the Vancouver Achievement.
I will report back once I’ve read more on this.
Reference:
John Punter. (2003). The
Vancouver Achievement: urban planning and design. Vancouver: UBC Press.
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