Guest lecture: March 26th

What is planning?

The process of developing and designing areas to meet the community needs: it is not a new idea and has evolved over centuries

Planning involves…

everything: transportation, social, heritage, environmental, land development, etc

policy

 an action a government wants to take: implemented through regulations 

Land-use-by-law:

A set of regulations designed to complement policies. Divide municipality into zones 

Zoning

municipal or local laws or regulations that govern how real property can and cannot be used in certain geographic areas

How do we decide policies and zoning:

 Its complicated. Project idea and proposals (create)->implement->feedback-> amend ->repeat

Why does planning matter?

 it can make complete communities- livability by prioritising 

• Access to essential services 

• Affordable and accessible housing

Planning HRM

1950S settlement pattern: compact metro area surrounded by rural landscape and seashore 

1970/80/90s- increasing settlement along highways and in suburbs

2006- first regional plan to constrain growth/ recognize the serious financial and environmental implications of dispersed growth– Municipality created a plan to help the city

Planning framework:

Regional planning- big and strategic moves 

Community planning- property by property 

Planned growth-> important places

What are some milestones for the planning committee?

2017- Integrated mobility plan 

2018- Green network plan 

2020- HalifAct 

Future 2030- low carbon pathway; building emissions and transportation, efficient

Some issues with planning in HRM?

Densely populated spaces->  over pay in taxes to offset the costs of travel to ikea

Municipality and provincial government don't have a good relationship now-

Some outcomes of this an urban developer can go over the municipalities head and go to provincial government to get approved

Its politically easier for a developer to build in rural areas instead of city where planning is key to success

Urban Renewal- Vancouver

1960s Vancouver Video- Economic and social issues are displayed: old, crowded and broken houses. Higher rates of TB-> immigrants → There plan was to build a apartment building and condos and allow people to move from houses into those and then they will demolish and build apartments block by block→ didn’t ask the people when interviewing how they could help, just straight to taking away there space and business for looks. Didn’t ask what they wanted.

Same thing happened to Halifax in the 50s and 60s

Africville and Cogswell: Demolished in early 60s 

Service of sewer and water was stopped right before these communities 

Cogswell-> all demolished for a highway and road network-> failed and now putting buildings around it

Example; Studentification

Waterloo, ON-> 2 universities right near each other 

The problem: between the 80s and 2000s they had huge growth for the universities 

There solutions was to change the single homes around these universities to big apartments buildings– but many students were cramming into these houses already 

How; purpose built student rentals: sometimes furnished: mixed use: many bedrooms 

Results: studentification: the distinct social, cultural, economic, physical transformations within university towns which are… 

• Social and cultural transformations: displacement of establish residents and transportation 

• There are lifestyles conflicts with these social groups 

• Students bring a lot of advantages: consumers, company recruits, night life

This example presents the difficulties of urban planning: some people were happy with this and others not. School year in the neighbourhoods would be crazy but summers dead-> not sustainable