It’s all about CAPS in Guelph this week!

Friday, we placed our bid and delivered a solid presentation, with the blessings of the committed team and Clarence Woudsma (School Director and Associate Professor School of Planning, University of Waterloo) who stand strong together.

Saturday, we will know who are honoured the responsibility to host the 2011 CAPS conference. Will it be Dalhousie, Toronto or Waterloo?

Week 4, semester 2:at the University of Waterloo, School of Planning

Got the readings done, the reviews completed, the meetings attended and class participation checked off as well. The 1st major paper is under way, and the CAPS PowerPoint presentation is ready to glow. And I’ve added TreeHugger Radio, Sierra Club Radio and Green.TV  to my weekly podcast/ video list. So, what’s new?

In Waterloo the big future planning hype is (besides nodes & corridors, rapid light rail and a New Official Plan) the BarrelYards development. A huge downtown site where intensification (upscale style: it’s after all in Uptown Waterloo…) will come to glory.

Now, “conventional” may be one comment, “North American” may be another. I’m not an architect; I’m not to comment. But I do recognize that it’s not exactly innovative and creative. Likely a upscale money-maker, but not a land mark in the Future By Design league. And I wonder, why is it not: why is it not required to be more…more than the current vision? A quick search around, and there are obviously other alternatives with more imagination out there. For instance:

“Roofs are for people, and should be green and accessible. That is what is so exciting about New Heden in Gothenberg, Daniel Andersson’s final thesis at Jönköping University, with Fredrik Kjellgren and Joakim Kaminsky of Kjellgren Kaminsky Architects. as tutors. The form of the buildings, “built as sliced hills with grass roofs that can be walked upon” brings the green roofs right down to grade, making them accessible; rooftops become terrain.” (According to TreeHugger).

And then I wonder about energy, community and sustainability:

Passivhaus? It is a European standard for building that uses 90% less energy while maintaining healthy air quality. An example, Brooklyn Cohousing. And one must wonder, what cities do we want in the future. Will the BarrelYards development maintain Waterloo’s official principle of remaining a city with a “small-town feel”?

What I learned at school this week

We’re told how to write our thesis literature review, introduction and so on. We’re lectured on all the important policies and acts and frameworks and micro and macro trends posing challenges and opportunities to planning. It’s a complicated world out there; fear not rain and frustration.

Next week: submit research paper, meet graduate adviser, complete CAPS application letter, prepare CAPS application presentation, present application to CAPS, present research at CAPS…

Oh, an possible: apply for summer work, write and submit a journal article, write an application for a OPPI grant, and do all the weekly required school work…

Municipal Planning Organization and The Quantitative & Qualitative Debate

Week 3 is dry.

The organization of municipal Planning Departments is not particularly trilling; the quantitative and qualitative debate is not fully heated; and the Weighted Linear Combination (WLC) technique used in GIS is not…well…it’s actually quite interesting, but it still qualifies as fairly dry material I would argue.

A heavy work load…and so much else to do

I’m a bit sorry to say, but I’m actually pressed for time this week. That means I will have to shorten this post, and offer less reflection than usual. The thing is, in addition to time-consuming multiple weekly readings and written critiques:

• I am also working on a research presentation for CAPS (“Progressive planning is relative”) with fellow student Brad Bradford, which possible may turn into a journal article as well.
• We’re also spending the week discussing ideas for a University of Waterloo School of Planning T-Shirt design.
• I’ve started writing a 2500 word planning paper (with more focus on form than a regular academic paper content) on “trends that influence planning practice” that should be completed in a couple of weeks.
• In between I’m continuing my ‘Thesis Pondering’ – like, where should my case study take place?
• Plans are also underway for a Charity Ball (Habitat for Humanity: Haiti), which will be a cooperation between The Association of Graduate Planners (AGP) and the Environmental Graduate Student Association (EGSA).
• There is a Brick Brewery “tour” happening February 9.
• The AGP is preparing a document for hosting CAPS next year. (I should at this time mention my involvement with the AGP as the Vice-President and Web (blog) post, and thus the extra curricular involvement).
• Last but not least (in addition to this blog and the AGP blog), the AGP Butterfingers dodgeball team had our first victory of the season today!

Educational Progress

I’m enjoying my graduate program tremendously; I only wish there were more hours in a day. This semester is more about doing than reflecting, which is of great enjoyment to me…as it is more of a challenge than to read and reflect all the time. This is a time of action. I like it.

Week 2 Semester 2 at Waterloo

The amount of work piling up is uncomfortable.

I do my readings at home during the day, including some hide-and-seek play in the snow under a clear blue sunny sky with Cooper.

An upcoming student presentation is in the making.

Searching for jobs is a job in itself.

In addition, a couple of evening off-campus lectures (Thomas Homer-Dixon and friends on 21st Century and the role of Ecology; and Cleo Paskal and her new book “Global Warring: How Environmental, Economic, and Political Crises Will Redraw the World Map) with fellow students take place in the evening.

It is followed by a reflective stop with fellow students at the pub.

It’s a good week. It’s a good week to be a student. Even if the work piling up is uncomfortable.

So what did I learn?

• A case-study that will require significant attention this semester is Waterloo’s downtown development site, to include underground parking, commercial, residential and business buildings and towers (up to 25 stories). The BarrelYards is a 5.1 ha (12.7ac) peace of land that will include: 1030 residential units (height 25, 21, 18, 12,), 240,000 sq ft office, 160 suite hotel, Live/work units, and a 130 unit retirement home. More about this case later. The issue for now is to see how it fits in with existing policies and frameworks.

• We also continue our discussions on qualitative, quantitative and mixed-method research methods, which is very interesting! For instance, I’ve never realized that statistics (presented by Hans Rosling) could be this interesting:

• Lastly we discuss the virtual city and how real and virtual cities are part of our reality, not to be neglected in the planning process. Issues of representation, democracy, information, knowledge and wisdom are raised, which at this stage only allows us to recognize that we’re only in the early stages of this virtual reality that either reflects or aids or compliments or discriminates or complicates urban planning. More about this later as well…

In the end, I started by stating how much work this semester is promising, and now it’s time to get to it. No more procrastination. (Actually, I don’t see this blog as such at all, because it in truth helps me organize ideas and provide feedback on the progress over time.) Anyway, there are close to 200 pages to read and at least 4 or 5 reviews to write before Monday, and it’s already Friday…

Happy New Year

2010 looks promising. I’m excited to get started. My urban planning studies are having a snowball effect inside my head.

The challenges are great, particularly if seeking to make downtown public space (currently dominantly private and commercial) and pedestrianism (currently dominantly car-oriented) part of the solution in North American cities that are pursuing human downtown settlement intensification.

This is my intellectual point of departure.

While at the University of Waterloo

This Winter semester at the university, I will pursue three courses:

(1) PLAN 701 Land Use Planning Fundamentals. This is a class where we will use a case to demonstrate an ability to work in groups and apply relevant planning variables for proposing site specific sound planning options, as well as demonstrating our comprehensive understanding of the past, current and future trends, issues and influences on land use.

(2) PLAN 710 Research Design. This class is all about attaining tools required to conduct our future research.

(3) PLAN 657 GIS and Spatial Decision Support. I am not a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) trained technician, and this class is therefore undertaken as a compensation, on top on my program’s requirements to graduate. GIS is a tool to for organizing and connecting data and providing information, but it also requires an additional knowledge at both the sender and receiving end in order to best benefit planning decisions. Furthermore, GIS is not only for the selected few anymore. Today we encounter GIS in everyday life situations (e.g. Google Earth etc.), and as a future planner I wish to understand what role GIS can play in planning.

In addition to these three classes, I will also be a Teaching Assistant (TA) in a second year undergraduate class: PLAN 261 Urban and Metropolitan Planning and Development.

Personal development as well

I read as much as possible. Not only journals, articles and bits and peaces of books, but also non-academic texts found in Alternatives Journal, Municipal World, Canadian Geographic, the Economist and, perhaps most fun of them all, Adbusters. In addition, through iTunes I’ve discovered podcasts (audio and video): TVO’s Allan Gregg (In Conversation), Steve Paikin (The Agenda), Spacing Radio, Nova podcasts, Frontline podcasts, Alternatives podcasts, and, perhaps most fun of them all, TED Talks video podcasts.

It is fair to say that I collect about half of my information on my own, but it is through the university I receive the rest. It is also at the university I connect the ideas, receive critique and in the end, hopefully, is rewarded the institutional credentials.

So, 2010 will be interesting times, no doubt.

Connecting all the urban planning ideas and recognizing the diversity, in week 11 and 12

Time passes quickly towards the end. Deadlines approaching. Ideas to be connected. Arguments to be made. Reflections to be uttered. Next semester to be discussed. Beer to be enjoyed. Friends and family to be remembered. Christmas is here.

Theory

Paradigm shifts, for better or worse, primarily between the social sciences and the natural sciences are how we have come to understand and operate the world in which we live. Which rationale are planners to adapt in their methods and plans? Yes, there is a choice, even if to the ones who adapts the one or the other there seems to be none at all. Some mixes both. It seems like a safe bet.

More theory

There are many models, rationales, cases, circumstances and points of view (egos). They all compete. They all try to be different. The real choice is for us to not fall into the one or the other by chance, but understand in which cases and to what extent the one may be preferred to the other, or when the mix of the two is the optimal one.

Practice

And it gets really interesting when a senior planner from Richmond Hill shares her stories about how emotional, personal, theatrical and fierce planning can get, when developers, municipalities and the public clash. It is a fascinating lecture.

For me, it is time to hit the books and start writing. I’ve spent months reading, listening, communicating, reflecting and enjoying urban planning related material, and now it is time to write some papers. No more weekly updates, at least not until January 2010 when a new semester is to start…

Urban structure – week 10 at Waterloo

Planners are to aid and facilitate growth and development, according to policies and theories and architectural alternatives (and not to mention economic capabilities). There are ideas to be heard, egos to be addressed, money to be made, politicians, developers, public opinions, professionals and experts and whatever else is out there!

There is also an environment to keep in mind, but in everybody’s mind it is not. There are alternatives. There are so many alternatives. There is no money. There are assets and opportunities. There are strategies. There are interests, stakeholders if you will. Love them or neglect them; love it or leave it.

Social Justice, Technological Utopians and New Urbanism

There are nodes, corridors and greenbelts that can and will form urban structures. There are also people and their ideas, like social justice ideas and numerous spokespersons siding with the ‘ahead of the pack-guru’ Jane Jacobs, but also Technological Utopians dreaming of future cities, like Fuller and Soleri.

And then there is the New Urbanism. Thank you Duany, for your designed white middle class retro-paradise. I’m actually not a critic, as much of what New Urbanism addresses are issues of urban design which with I can agree. And Smart Growth principles are not all that stupid either. The product, the business and the promotion of a designed solution however – a solution that’s not organic, adapted or ‘from within’ the local area – are reasons for the critical antenna to tune in and send out signals of warning.

Sewage

A fundamental function of human health and well-being, which is addressed by urban planning, is found in its drains and sewers. What goes inn must come out, and our health depends on it to function properly. But what does it look like?

As a rule, I always aspire to mentally picture what I try to communicate, in order to gain a deeper perspective; and in the absence of physically being in touch and having to smell it, I tune in to Spacing Radio podcasts and Andrew Emond photography to hear and see it (the drains and sewers).

Cities of diversity for people, but the capitalist rationale sticks deep in week 9

This week (week 9) we discussed urban social diversity and its challenge to planning, and we looked into some historic champions related to this debate. We also performed a couple of class presentations, based on presenting real-world planning cases, that illustrated how difficult it is to stand up to capitalist interests that don’t sympathize with ’soft’ ideas and only seek to defend and champion ‘hard’ physical developments.

Planning Dichotomies

As planning students, this week we get stuck in the dichotomy between:

1. whether to adapt generalist or specialist skills;
2. the movement to technical versus humanistic skills;
3. the split between product (professional) and process (administrative) skills; and
4. the two paths of professional versus scholarly approaches.

Take the not yet universally embraced issues of social equality and multiculturalism in addition, and one start to recognize that education is not at all very straight forward. The quest for us students is to come to terms with the various views offered and then choose which view to embrace (as one often tend to fall into the one or the other camp) – all at the same time. And, as expressed in this blog, we progress through the material quickly, thus leaving little time to reflection. This is my reflection.

Planning Diversity

When considering urban sociology, Canadian cities are diverse. Ethnic groups, immigration patterns, lifestyle preferences,  life-cycles, homelessness and other social-economic separations, and other aspects as well, are all common to planning theory, but applying this in planning practice is not as prevalent. Thus, arguments claiming that all planning developments are to suit the middle and high tastes have put forward, questioning the reality of planning and its willingness to address diversity.

Planning Champions

Theoretically we follow the humanistic and pluralistic (anti-Master Planning and anti-’urban automobile domination’) ideas of Patrick Geddes (1854-1932), Lewis Mumford (1895-1990) and Jane Jacobs (1916-2006). We also view a documentary about a personification of their antithesis, Robert Moses (1888-1981).

Patrick Geddes

Lewis Mumford

Jane Jacobs

Robert Moses

As planning students, we are to know them in order to remember them and their messages, which in turn may guide us towards a better future…or maybe not? I know where I stand, but the education is still in process…I will wait some more…keep my mind open…be fully prepared…or maybe not?

Week 8: The Suburbs and Legally Speaking

The suburbs

Between a gentrified inner city and an expanding outer suburban development, there is the inner suburb (where in many cities the low-income households are mostly found). A ton of issues; access to jobs, services (particularly transportation) and an issue of city identity, lacking vibrant commercial activity and natural areas and new-style houses. Do you care or do you not? What is the nature of your planning?

Planning Law

A dosage of legal matters were offered on Tuesday, as we are as professionals to work with the two contentious issues of PRIVATE PROPERTY RIGHTS and PUBLIC INTEREST. The number of issues to be rooted in these two interests are not few, and approaching them has to be done balanced and correctly – LOGICAL: TRACEABLE: REPLICABLE, remember. The virtue of planning is good analysis, but this is often left behind when blinded by the nature of planning (value based and biased).

But also, remembering our history of Walls

On a historical note, as urban planners we are obliged to remember the Berlin wall, as well as witness the erection of current Israeli walls, the American-Mexican walls, the Iraq-Baghdad walls or any other planned walls that aim to separate and discriminate. (This is only my critical thinking surfacing, not directly relevant to my week at the university. But my research does however focus on public space and public place, thus I am immediately attracted to criticizing walls…my bias at play.)

Seven times seven days of study – the journey continues

The closer we get to the present, the closer reality is about to hit us; we embrace for the clash and keep wandering backwards into the future…

Week 7

• Le Corbusier (1887-1965) introduces ‘towers in the park’  with the benefits of greenspace, sunlight and high density. The whole world experiments with his concepts. The impact of the car is unpredictable, unimaginable: modernism, the sum of the whole, transforms the world without adhering to one man’s complete vision.

• The inner city, between decline and gentrification, is a constantly moving target, adapting and dictating changes of lifestyle and livelihoods according to fashions of the time. The forces at play are beyond any planned intention. There is a planned drive to bring people in to the city again, and the market responds accordingly.
  

• Bjørn Lomborg proposes rational approaches to political problems. Nothing more, nothing less. It is controversial. Rational people love it, while most special interest groups feel undervalued. I wonder if he merely manages to see a tree without understanding, feeling and caring for the forest, and thus believes it is best to cure the world one problem at the time? I re-read “Small is Beautiful: Economics As If People Mattered” by E.F. Schumacher (1911-1977), but Plan 703 is not the place to bring forth too many alternative views.
  

Rushed Reflections

The week went by so quickly I could hardly find time to reflect on it, before the next one is to begin. November and December is writing, which means I am coming to a close with most of my reading. I can feel it in my head, all the thoughts maturing and preparing to be let free to express themselves. Like wild ghosts seeking a way to materialize, seeking a way to generate new insight. They are real however, and the challenge is to make them work for me and not the other way around.

My academic challenge, which in turn will be my professional challenge, is to find the core of the issue, and proceed by offering the correct analysis and reporting of the means. Good means (parts) will bring good ends (whole), I believe. Looking at the cost and benefit is indeed key to this, stresses Simpson, and if we can prove pro and con to everly alternative, then the recipient will rightly be able to make up his/her own mind. That’s what professionals do, I am told.