Brent Toderian

<p> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Having read articles lately on Planetizen and elsewhere on how the &quot;fresh new concept” of Intelligent Cities is replacing the stale old term &quot;smart growth&quot;, I was moved to <a href="/node/47982" target="_blank">write a comment regarding the latest such article</a> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'">which compared smart growth to urban renewal in terms of its stale-dated coolness, and suggested that smart growth may be passé because of its successful take-over of main-stream thought and practice.

<p> <span style="font-family: Tahoma"><span style="font-size: small">Back when Vancouver was first discussing the concept of laneway housing as part of the EcoDensity Initiative in 2006-2008, we nick-named it &quot;hidden density&quot; because it didn&#39;t significantly change the way single-detached housing blocks looked from the street. We did so, recognizing that the word hidden is a relative term.</span></span><span style="font-family: Tahoma"><span style="font-size: small"> </span></span> </p>

<p> <span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New'"> </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New'">Canadian city planners and urbanists have been active in the discussion and debate over the last few weeks, regarding the Federal government&#39;s decision to change the mandatory long form census to a voluntary approach. As un-sexy as the census might seem to many (I myself never thought I&#39;d be writing a post about the census), the national media has been all over this, giving extensive coverage to the numerous experts and professional organizations who have been unanimously critical of this move, and the effects it will have on the planning and management of cities and communities.

<p> Among the countless stories being written on the successes and challenges of these 2010 Olympic Winter Games, not surprisingly the most interesting stories to me are those that speak to the challenges of great urbanism. As a host city, Vancouver has become a massive urban laboratory, with so many opportunities to learn, and we’re soaking it all up.<br /> <br /> As we are coming to the end of the final week, a few examples of big experiments and learnings come to mind.<br />

<p> Followers of Vancouver city planning will remember that in 2008, as part of the approval of the EcoDensity Initiative, our Council approved what remains (we think) the highest green standard for private sector building design in North America. The 2008 policy requires that buildings that go through rezonings (representing most buildings built in Vancouver) must establish that their design, at approval, is capable of achieving LEED™ Silver. We actually nick-named it &quot;Silver Plus&quot;, because we mandated that there be a minimum of 3 energy points, 1 water point, and 1 storm water point, emphasizing the things that matter most to us.