Questions & Answers

1. What is cities^PLUS?
2. What is the International Sustainable Urban Systems Design Competition?
3. Who is coordinating the cities^PLUS initiative?
4. What are the benefits of the cities^PLUS initiative?
5. What makes this project different from other planning initiatives?
6. How does this project build on other regional and national initiatives?
7. Why does sustainability need to be addressed at the regional level?
8. Why is integration so important to a sustainable urban system?
9. Why is cities^PLUS a destination?
10. What opportunities are there for getting involved in cities^PLUS?
11. How can the results from this project be used in other metropolitan areas?
12. Who is supporting the cities^PLUS project?

1. What is cities^PLUS?

The cities^PLUS project will be Canada's first 100-year plan for a sustainable metropolitan area. The plan will incorporate economic, social and environmental priorities in an urban system approach. Cities Planning for Long-term Urban Sustainability is part of an international competition where Greater Vancouver will showcase Team Canada's sustainable design expertise on the world stage.

2. What is the International Sustainable Urban Systems Design Competition?

Greater Vancouver is one of only nine metropolitan areas from eight countries selected to participate in the International Sustainable Urban Systems Design Competition. The other participants include China, India, Germany, Russia, Argentina, Japan, and the U.S. Each of the participants must show how their metropolitan areas can achieve sustainability by 2100. It must submit the plan at the 2003 World Gas Conference in Japan. The competition is sponsored by the International Gas Union, a global organization representing more than 62 countries active in the natural gas industry. The entries will be judged by a blue-ribbon international panel of experts from the various fields of urban sustainability.

3. Who is coordinating the cities^PLUS initiative?

The cities^PLUS project is chaired by the Honorable Lloyd Axworthy with Michael Harcourt, former BC premier as Vice-Chair. The project is being coordinated by UBC's Liu Centre for the Study of Global Issues, the Sheltair Group, the GVRD and the Canadian Gas Association.

4. What are the benefits of the cities^PLUS initiative?

With 7.5 billion people expected to live in urban areas around the world by 2050, an urban revolution is taking place that will surpass both the technological and industrial revolutions. By planning ahead, we can build infrastructure and urban systems that cost less than conventional infrastructure, are more flexible and adaptable, and better suited to the needs of the population. There are a number of project benefits including:

• Showcasing Canada's sustainable expertise and innovation on the world stage;
  
• Contributing to the GVRD's Liveable Region Strategic Plan, recognized internationally as a model of sustainable planning;
  
• Identifying different ways of providing infrastructure services without exceeding the carrying capacity of a region's ecosystems;
  
• Demonstrating how local government can contribute to achieving Kyoto commitments (reducing green house gas emissions);
  
• Integrating world-class innovations and research methods into infrastructure plans for Greater Vancouver, in support of the "Sustainable Region Initiative"; and;
  
• Establishing a legacy network of business, government and involved citizens who will foster future community sustainability in Canada and around the world
  

5. What makes this project different from other planning initiatives?

One of the unique features of the cities^PLUS initiative is that it is Canada's first 100-year plan for a sustainable metropolitan area. Planning time frames typically look ahead 20 years which is too short from a sustainability perspective. By using a 100-year planning horizon, it is possible to consider the broader implications of selecting and designing infrastructure systems like roads, buildings and urban utilities. A 100-year planning horizon also introduces significant uncertainty, which forces us to consider adaptable designs and management systems that can accommodate substantial change.

The project will address how to improve quality of life and prosperity, while reducing our resource use to a fraction of what we consume today. It will also identify how to achieve social equity and work opportunities, while looping and cascading energy, water and materials through many end uses until nothing is wasted.

6. How does this project build on other regional and national initiatives?

Cities^PLUS builds on past and current sustainability initiatives in Greater Vancouver. In particular, the project is being integrated into the update of the GVRD's growth management strategy, the Livable Region Strategic Plan (LRSP). The LRSP is used by all levels of government as the decision-making framework for regional land use, transportation, and infrastructure choices. While updating the LRSP, the GVRD is embarking on a Sustainable Region Initiative (SRI), that involves enhancing the LRSP from a sustainability perspective. In particular, the cities^PLUS project will expand the capacity of the region to address energy planning and infrastructure system design.

7. Why does sustainability need to be addressed at the regional level?

Sustainability is best addressed at the regional level as many of the human systems, natural ecosystems, and resource flows cross municipal boundaries. By using a larger regional area such as Greater Vancouver, which is bounded on three sides by ocean, mountains and the U.S. border, it is easier to develop more complete solutions to the challenges faced by metropolitan areas, such as transportation, environmental systems, and infrastructure.

In addition to approaching the project from a regional level, a series of neighbourhood sites will be selected for more detailed analysis. Each of the sites will have a different focus, such as demonstrating green infrastructure or showing how sustainability can be applied in different areas. These test-beds will be templates for transferring information about sustainability around the region. By having a regional framework for sustainability combined with neighbourhood case studies on aspects of sustainability, the cities^PLUS project will illustrate both the "big" picture and best practices for implementation.

8. Why is integration so important to a sustainable urban system?

Possibly the greatest improvement we can make to the efficiency and effectiveness of urban systems is to plan for greater levels of integration. This will mean dissolving some of the traditional boundaries between buildings, infrastructure and land use; and between one type of resource service and another. For example the pumping, treating and distribution systems for water and waste typically require large amounts of land and energy; thus watershed management and water conservation are integral to land use and energy planning. Moreover a water system can be designed to actually generate electricity by placing turbines in the pipes; or to generate useful heat by means of heat pumps in the sewage. Opportunities like these are manifold when we start to integrate the built environment into a single, 'urban ecology', to replace the single-purpose, supply-oriented systems of the 19th and 20th centuries.

9. Why is cities^PLUS a destination?

A 100-year planning horizon provides an opportunity to not only move towards sustainability, but to actually arrive there. It means that we must envision a future where the region has completed the transition to renewable energy and sustainable resource use. It also entails a lasting balance between social, economic, and ecological objectives. Sustainability is not just a direction, but also a destination.

10. What opportunities are there for getting involved in cities^PLUS?

In order to obtain input from a broad range of groups and individuals, both locally and nationally, the following events are being planned throughout 2002:

Roundtable Discussions (early - mid 2002), which will provide an avenue for participation by a range of experts in the fields related to urban systems and urban and regional sustainability.

Networking Breakfasts (throughout 2002), which will provide an opportunity for community groups and other organizations in the region to meet and discuss how to work collaboratively to move Greater Vancouver towards sustainability.

Design Workshops (Spring 2002), which will involve multi-day intense working sessions by practitioners and the public addressing the development and selection of strategies, technologies, and implementation actions required to achieve the project visions.

Community Engagement Events in the GVRD's LRSP Review (throughout 2002) - Aspects of the cities^PLUS project will be integrated with the public events currently being planned by the GVRD for the Livable Region Strategic Plan and the Sustainable Region Initiative.

Sponsor Support There are several opportunities to financially support the project. Organizations can contribute to cities^PLUS and participate in shaping the GVRD's sustainable future. They will demonstrate their leadership in long-term sustainable planning; enhance their pubic profile and gain international exposure to the new economy.

11. How can the results from this project be used in other metropolitan areas?

By demonstrating how Greater Vancouver can make the transition to sustainability over the next 100 years, planning tools and processes can be developed as templates for achieving sustainability in other metropolitan regions in Canada - and worldwide. In addition, through involving experts from across the country in the process, the knowledge and direct experience of these practitioners will be transferred across the country. A case study documenting the process, outcomes, and lessons learned from the cities^PLUS project will be prepared to benefit other metropolitan areas grappling with how to achieve sustainability.

12. Who is supporting the cities^PLUS project?

To date, project supporters include: the Greater Vancouver Regional District, Canadian Gas Association, BC Gas, Duke Energy, the Liu Centre for the Study of Global Issues, the Sheltair Group, SaskEnergy, BC Hydro, Natural Resources Canada, Western Diversification Canada, the International Centre for Sustainable Cities, Montenay Inc., Wastech, Gaz Metropolitan, Federation of Canadian Municipalities, ATCO Gas and the Vancouver Foundation.

 

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