| Urban sprawl is not an inevitable result of the city’s population boom, and it is up to Calgarians to push politicians into changing the way the city grows, says the head of the Sierra Club of Canada.
Elizabeth May, the conservation organization’s executive director, says other cities have rejected suburban expansion as their method of growth and have lessened the barrage of problems that come with it – traffic congestion, infrastructure shortfalls, automobile-centred lifestyles, environmental degradation, unfair taxation, community disaffection and even health problems.
May, in town on November 14, picked apart some of the rationale for the city’s growth model that has been put forth by politicians – particularly Mayor Dave Bronconnier, who said earlier this year, for example, that "There is no such thing as urban sprawl in Calgary."
"This sprawl is a result of unplanned growth. We need smart growth instead of unplanned growth," May says. "Believe me, it’s going to get worse without a plan."
May also dismissed Bronconnier’s assertions that sprawl is a natural outcome of growth, when he told the Calgary Herald, "It’s called growth, and the only cities I know of that aren’t growing are those that are in decay."
May doesn’t argue that Calgary’s growth the past few years is positive, but there are alternatives to the city simply expanding its boundaries to accommodate that growth.
She says existing communities can be redeveloped over time to bring in more people while, at the same time, fostering strong community links and neighbourhood character, and that new communities can be built so they are less burdensome on the city’s infrastructure and the environment.
She also rejects suggestions that the market drives suburban sprawl. She says many people would choose inner-city homes if their price tags reflected their real cost to the city and the environment, which is less than suburban homes.
"Municipal tax systems are designed to encourage people to live in the suburbs, but it could be easily changed," May says.
She says inner-city living doesn’t mean living in a cramped apartment downtown. She also encourages people to investigate real suburban costs.
"If you add the monthly cost of two cars out of the family budget and add it to the mortgage, you’re really making a case for living out of the suburbs," May says.
May also argues the city’s plans to create employment centres on the city’s outskirts are destined to fail because they don’t address the fundamental problem.
May acknowledges it is difficult to stop sprawl because it is so lucrative for developers – who are big donators to municipal election campaigns – and says no city in Canada has fundamentally dealt with the problem. But she is optimistic Calgary may follow some American and European cities and make positive changes.
"We’ve got suburbs and we’ve got sprawl. We have to say enough is enough," she says. |
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