GEOG 346 – DAY 1Urban and Regional Change Management

WELCOME TO 346 AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I’m Don Alexander – been at VIU for 10½ years, including teaching this course; I’m also a registered planner, writer on planning issues, and occasional research consultant.

My office hours are Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 2:30 to 3:30, and by appointment, in Building 359 (Room 215). I will occasionally be unavailable because of other meetings.

I would like to hear from each of you for one minute as to why you are taking this course and if you have any special interests.

COURSE EXPECTATIONS

So we can start to get to know one another, I would like for five volunteers to say three things about themselves, two of which are true and one a lie, and we’ll guess which is the lie. I’ll do the same as well.

I’m interested to know what you think this course is about? Talk to your immediate neighbour about this.

Also: what do you think are fair expectations that a teacher should have of his or her students? One example that a colleague of mine enforces rigorously is not have cell phones go off during class. If they do, that person has to bring Timbits for the whole class!

What expectations do you have of me?

WELCOME TO 346 AND HAPPY NEW YEAR! This course is about the changes in the

imperatives facing municipalities and regions in the 21st century and ways of coping with these challenges.

On Thursday, we will hear from a planner from the RDN who will offer you her perspective, as well as talk about a recent RFP the district issued for a Guidebook on Site Planning. One possibility is that our class could produce a shadow guidebook and bring her in at the end of the semester to offer feedback on what the class has produced.

WELCOME TO 346 AND HAPPY NEW YEAR! Required Text: A Reader in Canadian Planning:

Linking Theory and Practice by Jill Grant (ed.) (Toronto: Thomson Nelson). [a few caveats…]

Highly Recommended: Happy City: Transforming Our Lives through Urban Design by Charles Montgomery (Toronto: Doubleday Canada, 2013); Towards Sustainable Communities: Solutions for Citizens and Their Governments by Mark Roseland (Gabriola Island, BC: New Society Publishers, 2012; e-copy available through the library); Ecocities: Rebuilding Cities in Balance with Nature (revised edition) by Richard Register (Gabriola Island, BC: New Society Publishers, 2006; e-copy available through the library); Seven Rules for Sustainable Communities by Patrick Condon (Washington, DC: Island Press, 2010).

WELCOME TO 346 AND HAPPY NEW YEAR! The course will be a mix of lectures, discussion,

occasional guest speakers, videos, assignments, and possible in-class debates.

We will go over some of the course outline today.

Phones and laptops are not to be abused. If you suffer from a disability of any kind, you

need to register with Disability Services (in Building 200) and let me know as soon as possible

Regarding extreme weather and campus closures, what’s on the VIU home page is the final authority, so use that as your guide.

Keep in mind the Writing Centre (4th floor Library) as a useful resource if your writing could use some work.

WELCOME TO 346 AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!Course Learning Objectives To be able to:Describe and analyse the emerging issues and stresses that are facing municipalities and regionsAnalyse and assess the impacts that current urban development patterns are having on the global ecological and social justice crisisDissect and analyse past and emerging paradigms for urban and regional developmentAnalyse issues related to sprawl, density, land use mix, and transportation infrastructureAnalyse and assess the role of “sense of place” in urban and regional managementAnalyse and assess the role of nature in an urban and regional contextDemonstrate skill in coming up with viable solutions to current urban and regional challengesMarkedly improve your writing, speaking, research, and analytical skills.

WELCOME TO 346 AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!

The grades are weighted as follows: 10% for participation and attendance, 15% for the mini-assignment (involving group work), 20% for a field trip assignment, 30% for the major project (includes 5% for outline), and 25% for the final exam. If time permits, you will get a chance to share the results of your research with the rest of the class.

For the field trip assignment, you will work with one or two other people. More details will soon be forthcoming. As it is relevant, how many of you will be going to San Francisco during spring break with Pam and Michael?

WELCOME TO 346 AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!

The major project will be worth 30%, with 5% for an outline due in Week 4. The project will consist of a case study where a city, town or urban region is implementing strategies and tools for addressing one or more of the issues covered in this course. You will identify the issue(s) addressed, and the strategies and tools used. You will also discuss what you see as the strengths and weaknesses of the approach under-taken, specific opportunities and challenges revealed, and lessons. More detailed instructions will be available shortly, along with additional resources.

DIFFERENT VISIONS

What is your image of the ideal sustainable city?

Courtesy of Keppel Corporation

EXERCISE

Pick an urban region where you have lived during your life: what worked well, and what were some significant problems/ issues? (If you want, choose different regions for each).

This course is about how the imperatives/ crucial issues for urban and regional management are changing dramatically. In the past, the key ones were: “orderly” development (though too often the planners and managers were serving the interests of developers, and some say they still are), infrastructure (roads, sewer/ water, hospitals, fire services/ police, community centres), adequate housing and green space, etc.

COURSE OUTLINE There is an extensive bibliography at the

end of the outline. I will provide additional resources as needed for your specific projects.

Anyone with any GIS capabilities? How about a Class 4 license?

If you have any thoughts about the benefits of individual vs. group work, I would like to hear them.

See the section in the course outline about laptops and phones (read the course outline carefully!). They’re allowed, but don’t abuse them.

Any questions, concerns, or comments?