Cities envy Charlottetown's green space, planner says

NIGEL ARMSTRONG
The Guardian


Larry Beasley, retired urban planner for the City of Vancouver, spoke in Charlottetown Monday at an event hosted by Friends of the Farm. Beasley said cities around the world would envy Charlottetown’s open space represented by the former Experimental Farm.

Larry Beasley, an urban planner of international renown, didn’t want to comment on thorny Charlottetown land use issues when he spoke in Charlottetown Monday night, at least not directly.
Invited to a public lecture by Friends of the Farm to mark the 100th anniversary of the Charlottetown Experimental Farm, his presentation attracted close to 150 people who attended at the University of Prince Edward Island.
Beasley built his reputation as the urban planner for the City of Vancouver. He has since retired from that post and is consulting and developing projects around the world.
He did say about Charlottetown, that “most cities would die to have that opportunity” of having open green space like the Experimental Farm lands.
“Most importantly, most cities will never have it,” said Beasley. “If you have big, contiguous, publicly owned open space, you want to be very careful about that.”
When asked about the Charlottetown waterfront, he praised the walkway but warned about over-development, suggesting the world standard is just 50 per cent of waterfront land be developed.
He warned that great effort needs to be put into a clear vision for the city, clear development guidelines developed and determination used to follow the vision.
He pointed to an example of a town that rejected a box-store design for Wal-Mart only to find the company back with a much more compatible, acceptable design.
“I discovered something that I didn’t know, these standard-density formulas were not so sacrosanct,” said Beasley.
When Edward Rice asked a provocative question about excess development of Victoria Park, Beasley replied: “I do believe Victoria Park is a treasure.”
Beasley said that demands for recreation construction in Victoria Park is all the evidence one needs that open space and recreation space is in great demand, is highly valued by residents and that more is always better.
He laid out general points for effective management of open space. The first point was to think of the future when deciding how to proceed. The need for people to grow food and have agriculture land within the city is a clear emerging trend around the word, he said.
Beasley said he has had his greatest success from being guided by the needs of families.
“Think from the point of view of a family of two or three kids, and not a rich family, an average-income family,” he said.
“If you design a city that works well for children, it seems to work well for everyone.”
He said that with his guidance, Vancouver has rules that no development can exclude families with children and that amenities for children and families must be part of any development plan.
He also said all parties, from developers to the public, need to be working well together so that all needs are met.
“Ask for a second proposal, a better proposal,” said Beasley. “Just be bold.”