I moved to Toronto from Vancouver a couple of weeks ago, and one of the things I miss most about home is the daily commute that took me over the Cambie Street Bridge and into the downtown core each morning. I’d hop on my trusty ten-speed (minus one brake cable, but who’s counting?) and rocket down the hill, past the all-too-familiar yellow and red safety vests of the Canada Line construction workers, and onto the wide bike-friendly path speckled with self-propelled individuals on their way to work. On rainy days my view from the bridge was limited to the slippery pavement in front of me, but on the rare and much celebrated occasion of a clear, sunny Vancouver morning, the city would rise up before me in all its tall, glassy glory.
To my left, the expansive curve of English Bay’s shores would wind beneath the Burrard Street Bridge, where tiny rainbow-coloured ferries shuttled market workers to Granville Island. To my right, the waters of False Creek would reach into the city, before ending abruptly at the foot of the Expo ‘86 architectural orb known as Science World. And in front of me, clusters of residential towers would form a shining wall across the horizon, some so distant that only the sharp glare of their reflections would register, others so close that I could see through their windows smartly dressed couples making breakfast and preparing for the day. It was easy to see how Vancouver earned the Coupland-coined moniker “City of Glass.”
In recent years the city has garnered much international acclaim for its unique model of urban development. It’s even been given its very own “ism.” “Vancouverism,” according to a 2005 article in The New York Times, “is characterized by tall, but widely separated, slender towers interspersed with low-rise buildings, public spaces, small parks and pedestrian-friendly streetscapes and facades to minimize the impact of a high density population.” This past summer, in London’s Trafalgar Square, Vancouver was applauded in the show “Vancouverism: Westcoast Architecture and City-Building.” The show, a component of the London Festival of Architecture, featured everything from early Arthur Erikson sketches to an “undulating 200 foot long, 27-foot-high wooden wall . . . meant to demonstrate the new possibilities of wood, and the wave of creativity spreading out from Vancouver right now.”
Frequently named as one of the most liveable cities in the world, it seems everyone is trying to emulate good old squeaky-clean Vancouver. It would make sense, then, that the man who orchestrated much of the city’s “liveability” would be in high demand. Enter Larry Beasley.
Working as city planner during the population boom ushered in by Expo ‘86, Beasley created strict urban development rules with the specific intent of promoting high-density downtown living. As a director of planning in the 1990s, Beasley’s “Living First Strategy” pushed hard for lots of green space, thoughtful and aesthetic urban design, and the prioritization of pedestrians and cyclists above drivers. Beasley also made it mandatory for developers to pay for public structures and amenities like parks, playgrounds, and community centres. The result is a picturesque landscape of carefully interspersed gardens, multi-family dwellings, office buildings and, of course, looming glass apartment towers. Throw in some snow-capped mountains and an ocean view, and it’s easy to see why growing cities in even the unlikeliest of places are turning to Vancouver for guidance. One of those cities is the United Arab Emirate’s lesser known oil-rich municipality, Abu Dhabi.
Unlike its famous neighbour Dubai, whose staggering unchecked growth has birthed a Middle Eastern city that looks like Las Vegas on steroids, Abu Dhabi has a comparatively western-thinking leader, Sheikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, with a less economically driven vision for his city. While Dubai was in a hurry to develop alternate revenue sources as its oil supplies dwindled, Abu Dhabi is sitting pretty and can take its time, as it has 80% of the nation’s oil supply to fall back on. Sheikh Nahyan wants the city to grow and thrive, but not at the cost of liveability, and not in the explosive pattern that Dubai has followed. Abu Dhabi has only recently legalized private ownership of property by non-nationals. It was immediately bombarded with massive development proposals from around the globe. Nahyan perceived the need for a deliberate plan with clearly defined motives, so when Larry Beasley announced in 2006 that he was leaving his position as Vancouver’s director of city planning, Sheikh Nahyan was ready to snatch him up.
Beasley says his purpose in Abu Dhabi is “to develop a culture of planning and prudent development.” His first action after being summoned was to stop plans to build an 18-lane highway, only days before construction was to begin. In an eleventh-hour meeting with the Sheikh, Beasley presented his case for a pedestrian and cyclist-friendly city, without a car corridor slicing right through its heart. The Sheikh sat and contemplated what he had been told for five nail-biting minutes – and then killed the project.
Since then, says Beasley, Nahyan has “put in place what are the most advanced legislation and policies in the world on environmental protection for Abu Dhabi. And he’s also sponsoring an initiative, which is going to build a carbon-free settlement in the emirate.” Of course much of the surprisingly green agenda in the “Abu Dhabi 2030” plan is Beasley’s doing, and it’s not as though anyone can deny the irony inherent in one of the world’s largest producers of oil attempting to construct the first zero emissions city.
Still, the plan has some thoughtful and innovative features specific to the population for whom it’s being built. The plans may follow the Vancouver model in many respects, but you won’t find a “women only” public transit system in Kitsilano or Kerrisdale. With a population that is almost entirely Muslim, the Abu Dhabi of the future takes this into account, with plans that include “fareej” — homes grouped together around a mosque, so that multiple families with close ties can live more communally, and in accordance with traditional Muslim values.
Beasley’s plans are not immune from criticism, however, both at home and in sandier parts of the world. Many say that while environmentally and culturally sensitive development is noble in theory, the plans are ignoring the 80% of Abu Dhabi’s population that is considered foreign – the underpaid workers who build the massive projects – who will reap none of the benefits and services of the sparkling new metropolis. Others point out that idealistic and costly developments financed with finite oil money can only be sustained for as long as the black gold is flowing. Richard Register, author of Ecocities – Rebuilding Cities in Balance with Nature has little faith in Beasley’s plans: “Building something that big on the edge of a vast desert, then saying sustainable building materials will be stone and wood – wood from where?!”
And even back at home, there are those who question whether perhaps there are flaws in the very city that Abu Dhabi has chosen as its role model. Some are asking the unthinkable: is it possible there is such a thing as too much Vancouver? The boom of downtown condo living over the past twenty years has created many challenges. One unique phenomenon: the reverse rush-hour. With the densest downtown population in North America (including Manhattan), companies have been forced to relocate their offices and headquarters to the suburbs, causing a daily condo exodus to the surrounding municipalities. There are also those who gripe about the cookie-cutter effect of strictly enforced building codes: row upon row of identical beige townhouses lining False Creek’s shores, and that infamous wall of Yaletown glass.
Let’s not forget, too, that no commentary on the foibles of Vancouver’s planners would be complete without addressing that much debated thorn in the side of all Vancouverites: the Downtown East Side. The population of what is debatably the most destitute neighbourhood in North America continues to face enormous hardships, and receives only a fraction of the government support that it needs and deserves. The story is anything but new, and as fancy loft apartments and concrete “artist-style dwellings” begin to encroach on former subsidized housing, the situation can only worsen before it gets better.
Still, for all the criticism and complaints, there’s no denying that the city has turned out more or less exactly as planners intended. So if parts seem a little too clean, a little too perfect, a little too planned, well, they probably are. And if others seem completely disregarded, then there’s your answer. It’s not a perfect city, regardless of what those who seek to emulate it might think. And with a downtown core that will reach its dwelling capacity in the next few years, the city is at another junction, and those in charge will have to innovate and think creatively to remain on top. The difference now is that expectations have skyrocketed, and with London, Abu Dhabi, and countless other cities keeping close tabs on my hometown’s next move, Vancouver’s new generation of planners better hope they get it right.
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