Planners of Vancouver: Larry Beasley's comments

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SFU Panel – The Next Planning Director

October 29, SFU Downtown

NOTES BY LARRY BEASLEY

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The themes that came out of the first two events are a great context for today’s discussion – well done to the conveners and participants of those sessions.
Let me contribute to this opening by talking about characteristics of a new Chief Planner and then about what the new Planner has to bring back to our city’s planning culture.
On the qualities of the new Chief Planner, I would remind everyone that the planning role in Vancouver is about both PLANNING and DEVELOPMENT MANAGEMENT so, over everything else, I would emphasize two key characteristics:
-For planning, REAL VISION – I hope the new Chief Planner will confound everyone with a very proactive, progressive, and surprising planning agenda – we have not had that over the past few years; we are still working from an increasingly obsolete city-making template.
-We are out there as an exemplar; our citizens have an expectation – we have to deliver the best…
-with the vision, there must be the ability to COMMUNICATE to build constituency and there must be PASSION – we have to believe because the planner believes.
-For development management, REAL TRANSACTIONAL PROWESS – the Chief Planner has to make things happen and happen right and in a way that works for most people – we have the best transactional system in the world and it is coming apart because it is not well understood or well used…
-that involves NEGOTIATING STRENGTH, POLITICAL STRENGTH and GRAVITAS.
Then, on the nature of the planning culture that has to be embraced by the new Chief Planner:
-To a great existing system, we have to bring a renewed commitment to total PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT and public engagement with transparency – every day; on all topics; managed well; latest techniques (including social media inventions); we seem to have lost that…
Over-riding need for new Chief Planner: COURAGE – to advocate and do the right thing against all odds and opposition and even when it puts the planner at risk.  This is the essential and unique principle for the Chief Planner that Ray Spaxman established back in the 1970’s and when we have lived by that we have done well; when not, we have floundered.
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