Vancouver Plan
The Vancouver Plan Vancouver is a city located in Canada and the third largest metropolitan area, after Toronto and Montreal with a population of almost 2.5 million people. It is a cultural and economic center of a prosperous, dynamic and rapidly growing region with its population anticipated to grow by approximately a million more people by 2050 with about half a million more homes and jobs. The area plays an important role in the region as the largest regional center for jobs at 65% of all regional office-space construction as well as a hub for new immigrants accounting to 25% of immigrants coming to the region (Plan, 2020). The implications of this growth to the region and its residents are dependent on how the city is managed. Planning plays an important role in managing growth of cities and urban areas. Among the recent plans I the area The Vancouver plan is a visionary long-range plan that was established to guide change and growth of the city to the year 2050 and beyond with the aim to unify the vision for the future land use of the city. The plan is equipped with policies that will help Vancouver become more affordable and livable with a strong economy where nature and people are able to thrive (Plan, 2020). The Vancouver plan comprise many individual plans guided by strategies on land use that gives a clear path and set a city-wide direction to achieve shared goals in an increasingly complex future. The Vancouver Plan planning approach is guided by three foundational principals which are equity where the benefits of the change and growth are distributed across neighbors with particular emphasis on equity-denied groups, resilience that involved a proactive planning aimed at future uncertainties so as to adopt, withstand, thrive and recover from shocks such as adverse climate change and earthquakes and reconciliation that aimed at forming mutual relationships of understanding and respect as well as integrate perspectives of the urban indigenous communities in the decision making and planning process. Engagement is also a key element in the planning approach. Among the key stakeholders are residents, indigenous people, regional authorities and senior governments, businesses, non-profit civic advisory bodies, community groups and other stakeholders. Such engagements are to ensure a shared vision for future diverse communities to resonate with. During the planning conversations pilot methods for the under-represented and the equity-denied groups are formulated to ensure prioritization and inclusivity in the planning process is achieved. The three principals provide a foundation to the Vancouver Plan and are interconnected in several ways throughout the plan to serve as an implementation framework, inform policy development directly and enhance the planning process. The plan set out frameworks to address the needs of every individual including reconciliation that addresses Indigenous people and settlers who have faced colonial violence and dispossession, racist and discriminatory policies as well as segregation. Reconciliation seeks to strengthen and support the healing of past wrongs and harms that continue to this day and have happened in the past. Frameworks on equity addresses the barriers in place to access of city services and opportunities as well as participation in aspects of public life including, economic, cultural social, political and spiritual activities. These frameworks intend to align processes, decisions and policies with equity frameworks to help remove and identify barriers; make all neighborhoods more inclusive to ensure all groups and individuals participate in all aspects of public life; minimize displacement to ensuring change and growth provide opportunities for organizations businesses and residents. Framework on resilience is central at ensuring overall well-being, safety and health of the residents and the city. The frameworks are focus on preparedness and thriving neighborhoods that helps communities contribute to the decision-making, share knowledge and collectively recover and prepare for both stresses and shocks; collaborative and proactive approaches to create a better understanding of the city’s vulnerabilities, hazards, risks and strengths related to our social, economic, physical and ecological systems so as to change systems in the city that make people vulnerable; adaptive and safe building and infrastructure improves access to basic needs, ensure provision of safe and reliable services today and in future and enhances performance in case of an earthquake. Paul Davidoff advocacy planning paradigm is anchored upon the concept of pluralism in planning. The goal of the planning process is to determine which of the several vision-plans or scenarios will be implemented and adopted. With respect to adoption and implementation, every respective outcome has different costs and benefits to each of the groups involved in the planning process. The notion of pluralism in planning, use of values and choices driven by social and political issues are central aspects in making planning decisions. Paul Davidoff’s planning theory corresponds with The Vancouver Plan as among one of its major foundational principals is equity(PARKER & STREET, 2018). The approaches invested in equity include indigenous rights which recognize, uphold and protect inherent and constitutional rights of indigenous rights; racial justice which understands and talks about racial implications and actively working to dismantle racism; intersectionality which recognizes different forms of systematic discriminations and designs different ways to specifically benefit the negatively impacted; systematic orientation aimed at identifying embedded discrimination within systems and coming up with better incentives and rules that will lead to better equitable outcomes(PARKER & STREET, 2018). John Forrester and Patsy Healey’s communicative planning theory is an approach that aims to gather stakeholders and engage them in in a process of decision making together in a manner that respects the position of all involved. The main idea is that planning can become more just and democratic through enhancement of quantity and quality of communication between actors of planning such as politicians, planners, private sectors and citizens. The Vancouver plan applies the same approach in its plan preparation as engagement is a critical process so as to attain many perspectives as possible. The plan places emphasis on centering voices that have been left out in the planning dialogue ensuring that everyone is considered in the formulation of the plan. The first three engagement processes included workshops, pop-up events, surveys and engaged 28,500 contacts. References PARKER, G., & STREET, E. (2018). Advocacy planning: Enabling Participatory Planning, 43–60. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt22h6qbk.9 Plan, V. (2020). Vancouver plan 20 50.
