In light of all the recent discussion surrounding the 70 Arlington development for affordable housing in our city, I was motivated to read an article in the June 6 edition of the Edmonton Journal, titled “Does democracy stifle smart growth?” by Leonard Stem.
Stem’s article focuses on ideas and comments made by the well known, practising American architect and urban planner Andres Duany, also known as the father of New Urbanism, which seeks to end urban sprawl and promotes mixed use neighbourhoods and concepts that are the basis of urban smart growth planning and design.
One of the quotes from Duany: “While democracy does most things well, I think we need to confront the fact that it does not make the best cities.”
The cumbersome and laborious process of consultation, respecting individual property rights and getting everyone on side in a development can be a very frustrating, costly and time-consuming endeavour. New Urbanists like Duany are more willing to allow the government elites a freer hand in rearranging neighbourhoods. China and Singapore have and are making great strides in city design and dealing with NIMBY issues. The process is simple and the job gets done. Authority is efficient and has its advantages.
Stem’s article has given me a new appreciation for the problems faced by our current city council. They wish to bring in best practices and ideas that will serve the whole community while respecting the rights and concerns of the neighbourhoods that will be most affected. Imposing solutions on people in a free, democratic society produces consequences that are sometimes worse than the solutions prescribed.
I believe our city council is very conscious of this and has therefore followed a process that upholds the values of our democratic system and one that will, hopefully, make this community richer in the quality of life it will be able to offer to all citizens, regardless of where they fit on the economic spectrum.
The fact that our council has formed a consensus on the priority need of affordable housing for this community speaks well of the goodwill and co-operation among the members of council. As a long-time resident of this community, I am impressed with the respect and spirit of co-operation that exists among council members. This good will and energy, committed to the best interests of our community, should be acknowledged when dealing with an issue like the 70 Arlington project. Our community cannot help but be richer for these efforts. Hopefully, citizens of this city will keep this in mind when council makes its final decisions on Arlington and during the upcoming fall civic election.
Although issues may not be resolved as quickly as they would be in China, I believe that frustrated New Urbanists like Duany would applaud the progress being made by our community and the process involved in achieving this progress.
The article ends with the following statement: “An educated citizenry can keep us from having to choose between smart growth and democracy, though let me state on the record that I’ll always go for democracy.”
Hopefully, St. Albert has the educated citizenry, collective responsibility, goodwill and democratic integrity for developing a city that someone like Duany would be happy to live in.
Wilf Borgstede, St. Albert
