| Charles Landry, an international consultant on city futures and the use of culture in city revitalization, recently presented his entertaining and provocative view of Calgary at a series of public and private meetings. The presentations included illustrative photos capturing the bad, ugly, delightful and beautiful Calgary – exploring what the city has done and could do using culture, heritage and the arts to tell its story.
The responses from the audiences varied considerably, reflected in each subsequent presentation as Landry learned more about the city and its citizens. He emphasized that all knowledge is cultural and every action has cultural dimensions.
For its public Stirring Culture Series, the Alberta College of Art and Design solicited his opinions of our city based on his mentoring of European cities as the founder of Co-Media.
Landry described his role as that of a "critical friend, an outside perspective" when he cited the Epcor Centre, the public venue of his talks, and its neighbour, the Glenbow Museum, as "one of the many containers that do not reflect their exciting contents." In addition, before an audience of civic planners and other employees, he rebuked the approach and language on the signs around the Olympic Plaza. A huge "CLOSED" sign with small print hours highlighted the collage of bylaw prohibitions. Landry suggested replacing it with "OPENED" and the hours. To him this was indicative of an infant city infantilizing its citizens by prohibiting, rather than encouraging. "Rules forbid building cities we’d love," he says.
Landry urged finding imaginative solutions. For example, on discovering that it cost more to process the fine for not having a bike bell than the fine itself, our chief bylaw officer thought of supplying his bylaw officers with bike bells to give out instead of fines. Landry lauded this mind shift as accumulating "social capital," which he promotes in addition to Calgary’s heavy emphasis on economic capital. The ideal is a balance among the capitals – social, cultural, demographic, creative, technological and financial.
Landry also urged a shift to new sources of competitiveness – to "move imagination and creativity to centre stage." Rather than acquiring more people from Saskatchewan, more money, grander houses and bigger cars, he suggested a move to higher quality, better design, ecological and cultural awareness – fostering environments that create and keep talent. He defined creativity as thinking at the edge, rather than the centre, of disciplines, a place where boundaries are crossed and interdisciplinary approaches to planning are implemented.
Landry chided his audiences for lack of adherence to the stated and admirable Calgary planning principles of "people first, sustainability and green spaces." What he had observed were reflective glass buildings that to him said, "pretty cool but don’t come near me." Neither our story or our diversity are reflected in our buildings and institutions. Overall, Landry deplored the tyranny of convenience, which spawns malls – "not gathering places" – and expressways – "not social places." Instead, small markets and pedestrian-friendly paths exemplify the friendliness for which Calgarians are famous.
And, as was stated by Brent Toderian, manager of Centre City Planning and Design for the city, there are now more planning documents in draft stage than at any other time in Calgary’s history. Landry related that many people had told him that they love their jobs and the people in Calgary, but no one had said they loved Calgary.
Our task, according to Landry, should be to create a city that is loved – not merely an excellent city, but "one for the world." |
Copyright ©2006 FFWD. All rights reserved.