CREDIT: Vancouver Convention Ctr.
Chicago, Portland, San Francisco – all claim to be vying for the title of North America’s, if not the world’s, greenest metro area. But what about Vancouver, BC? The city’s transformation in terms of parks, transportation and green jobs began decades ago. Even the built environment in and around Vancouver boasts some of the world’s green trendsetters, such as Library Square and the C.K. Choi Building at the University of British Columbia. The Vancouver Convention Center, featuring a six-acre green roof, is on track for LEED Platinum, and the uber-green Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability (CIRS) – designed by Busby Perkins+Will – will open in 2011.
How exactly do you measure this achievement? Northwest Hub
explains, with a recap of Vancouver’s plans to become the world’s greenest by
2020:
“By positioning itself as the destination for green jobs and business, Vancouver hopes to strengthen and expand its global stature and continue to be one of the world's most livable cities. One way Vancouver hopes to achieve its goal is through implementing what it calls 'bright green ideas.'
One such bright green idea is the use of low-carbon economic development (LCED) zones. By creating LCED zones, Vancouver hopes to encourage the development of low-carbon businesses and technologies that will attract investment capital, development funding, grants, and other financial resources that will further advance such green industries as renewable energy, energy efficiency, and additional low-carbon technologies. If LCED zones are successful, they will proliferate or expand, further increasing the size and reputation of Vancouver's green industries and practices.”
Read all of “A Brief Look at Vancouver's Plan to Become the Greenest City in the World by 2020”.
The Resilient Cities conference, held October 20-22, 2009 in Vancouver, explored many of these ideas further. Co-sponsored by SmartGrowthBC and Gaining Ground, the program addressed an amazing variety of topics from a who's who of green thought leaders:
- The City and the Resilient Future, Paul Hawken
- Development is Community, John Knott Jr.
- Shifting Corporate Culture, Anita Burke
- Sustainability From the Community Up, Majora Carter
Download the full program here.