CANADIAN
MAYORS GATHER AT UBC TO DEVELOP 100-YEAR PLAVETO SUSTAIN
OUR CITIES
September
19, 2002
Mayors
and planners from more than 20 cities across Canada met
at UBC on Sept. 17 - 18 to help find ways to keep Vancouver
and Canada’s other urban areas functioning well over
the next century.
Vancouver Quadra MP Stephen Owen, and former B.C. premier
Mike Harcourt were among those who attended the event, dubbed
the citiesPLUS National Symposium. The
meeting’s theme was The City in the World: Security
and Resiliency as a Foundation for Long-term Urban Planning.
“The
numerous challenges facing Canada’s fast-growing urban
centres, which are home to 80 per cent of our population,
are finally starting to gain recognition from all levels
of government and the media,” said Lloyd Axworthy,
Director and CEO of UBC’s Liu Centre for the Study
of Global Issues and the symposium’s host.
“Long-term planning is essential if we are to proactively
address the many issues that our cities face, including
sustainability and security. This symposium is an essential
part of the citiesPLUS legacy in developing
a network of Canadian cities that can work together to address
these issues.”
Participants of citiesPLUS were helping
to develop a 100-year plan to keep Greater Vancouver sustainable.
Issues discussed included: the resiliency of our neighbourhoods
and cultural systems as well as built and environments urban
infrastructure.
“Ultimately, citiesPLUS will be
a toolkit that cities across Canada and around the world
can adapt and use,” Mr. Axworthy added.
The citiesplus plan will also be Canada’s entry in
an international competition on sustainable urban systems
design being held at the World Gas Conference in Tokyo in
June 2003.
Canada is one of eight countries invited to submit entries
to the World Gas competition. The Team Canada submission
is being developed by a public/private partnership of the
Greater Vancouver Regional District, the Sheltair Group,
Canadian Gas Association, Liu Centre for the Study of Global
Issues and other sponsors. The project will become the cornerstone
for revising the GVRD's Livable Region Strategic Plan, recognized
internationally as a model for regional growth management.
Media
Contact:
Georgia Dahle
Liu Centre for the Study of Global Issues
Tel: (604) 822-1672
E-mail: Georgia.dahle@ubc.ca
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