Vision for the future: Switzerland, not suburbia
May 6th, 2008 by Jim JustMetro Vancouver – like Oregon – has a planning model of suburban communities linked by gas-guzzling highways. But sky-high fuel and food prices will eventually make this model economically obsolete.
The Vancouver Sun has a story about Vancouver architect Richard Balfour, who argues for a different vision – one resembling Switzerland rather than Los Angeles.
“Balfour argues that Metro Vancouver should begin creating Swiss-style hill villages linked by rail rather than towns on flood plains and valleys connected by pavement.”
Balfour says a radical revisioning is required:
“What is suggested here is the need for a radical rethink of all we take for granted. The recommendation in this rethinking is not based on wishful thinking but on the need to carry out strategic sustainable planning to achieve a new workable pattern of community for a post-oil age.”
Balfour’s vision of rail networks and eco-towns on hillsides is set forth in a new book, Strategic Sustainable Planning: A Civil Defense Manual for Cultural Survival. [Note: I couldn't find the book on either Powell's or Amazon].
Balfour also argues that rising oil prices will make it uneconomic to import food, meaning we’ll have to rely more on locally produced food. Currently, Metro Vancouver produces about 48% of the food it consumes. The policy implications are that southwest B.C.’s low-lying farmland needs to be protected and turned into a “green commons” for food production to serve nearby urban areas. Land lost in the past two decades to urban development or industry must be reclaimed for food production.
Balfour says the time to act – and to abandon the automobile – is now:
“The move to the hill towns has to start now, not another generation from now, as we do not have the time to delay. This means not following the current oil-age planning criteria or automobile engineering standards.”