Today was the first day of the conference proper, and I came away feeling genuinely inspired - in particular about the future of planning as a global profession.
The Obama administration has instilled a pro-planning agenda, and although things are clearly as economically challenging over here as it is in the UK, there does seem to be a lot of optimism amongst American planners.
The day started with the opening key note speech featuring Senator Mary Landrieu (who apparently is kind of a big deal over here), Shaun Donovan (US Secretary for Housing and Urban Development – also a big deal) and Renee Jones-Bos (the Dutch Ambassador in the US).
Senator Landrieu started off by recognising the value of planning and noted that the current administration hope to instill change through the planning process. She then went on to pay respect to the Dutch who have been in New Orleans since Katrina, assisting in the reconstruction of the city based on experience from the Netherlands. Landrieu made it clear that she believes that New Orleans is an important city and an economic powerhouse for oil, gas and food production and must be rebuilt. However, the 250,000 homes that were destroyed and $150 bn damages should have been reduced by better defence, protection and resilience, following the examples set in Holland.
Renee Jones-Bos also believes in the future of New Orleans and started her speech with the facts that the Netherlands is the 7th largest trader with the US, the 3rd largest international investor in the US and manages to retain this position despite much of the country being at below sea level – Dutch bankers also paid for the purchase of Louisiana from the French.
Lessons learnt from the Dutch approach to planning and urban design in the rebuilding of New Orleans was the focus of the next session I attended. Dutch Dialogues is a program that has been ongoing for several years and seeks to instill principles learnt from Holland around flood management, resilience and urban design in the rebuilding of the city.
This session outlined inspirational and very optimistic possibilities for the future of the city and focussed upon how the existing flood defence system of canals and levees could be improved and externalised to provide better protection, as well as recreational opportunities. This strikes a chord with a lot of work that I’ve been involved in the UK which is increasingly focussed upon Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems and a more managed approach to dealing with flood risk.
The Dutch Dialogues session reported back on a three day charette that had taken place ahead of the conference. Underpinning all of the work were four main development principles for the future of the city – Firstly, that it should be safer; second, that it should be resilient; third that it should be sustainable; and fourth that it should be attractive. These are clearly the four main priniciples that should be instilled into development across the globe.
The remainder of the session provided outputs from the charette that focussed upon the removal of culverts and flood walls from the high level canals around the city. It was noted that despite New Orleans being a water dominated city, you don’t see the water like you would in Venice or Amsterdam. The main solution, the Dutch suggest, is to provide more space for water to circulate and be stored, which in dry times can be used to the recreational and aesthetic advantage of the city, as well as providing attractive corridors for cyclists and pedestrians to link city districts.
The Dutch Dialogues work can be seen here: http://www.dutchdialogues.com/
I met Shana at lunchtime who introduced me to some of her planning friends, many of whom were displaying posters in the exhibition hall. I also went along to the AECOM stand – it was good to see the planning and design part of the business being displayed here.
I went to a session on working globally after lunch. Although this was more focussed upon APA members there were a lot of good
ideas discussed about how planners can move around the globe to work, rather than being typecast into a single country. In particular the potential for planners working as part of international relief operations was seen as a massive opportunity for good by many and there are even the startings of a “Planners without Borders” orgainisation in the US, something that could be mirrored in the UK.
In the afternoon I went to a couple of sessions on planning for climate change. This focussed upon a number of planning-led initiatives in the US, in particular state-level Climate Action Plans, which some research was showing had made small impacts in reducing CO2 levels, although obviously nothing like the reductions required to reverse predicted climate change impacts.
After the session finisihed I met up with my pal Sarah who used to work in London and we had some beer. I then went to TW Fins (on a very boisterous Bourbon Street) where I had a very civilised meal with some great people from the APA, who like everyone i’ve met here so far are absolutely passionate about planning.
The Obama administration has instilled a pro-planning agenda, and although things are clearly as economically challenging over here as it is in the UK, there does seem to be a lot of optimism amongst American planners.
The day started with the opening key note speech featuring Senator Mary Landrieu (who apparently is kind of a big deal over here), Shaun Donovan (US Secretary for Housing and Urban Development – also a big deal) and Renee Jones-Bos (the Dutch Ambassador in the US).
Senator Landrieu started off by recognising the value of planning and noted that the current administration hope to instill change through the planning process. She then went on to pay respect to the Dutch who have been in New Orleans since Katrina, assisting in the reconstruction of the city based on experience from the Netherlands. Landrieu made it clear that she believes that New Orleans is an important city and an economic powerhouse for oil, gas and food production and must be rebuilt. However, the 250,000 homes that were destroyed and $150 bn damages should have been reduced by better defence, protection and resilience, following the examples set in Holland.
Renee Jones-Bos also believes in the future of New Orleans and started her speech with the facts that the Netherlands is the 7th largest trader with the US, the 3rd largest international investor in the US and manages to retain this position despite much of the country being at below sea level – Dutch bankers also paid for the purchase of Louisiana from the French.
Lessons learnt from the Dutch approach to planning and urban design in the rebuilding of New Orleans was the focus of the next session I attended. Dutch Dialogues is a program that has been ongoing for several years and seeks to instill principles learnt from Holland around flood management, resilience and urban design in the rebuilding of the city.
This session outlined inspirational and very optimistic possibilities for the future of the city and focussed upon how the existing flood defence system of canals and levees could be improved and externalised to provide better protection, as well as recreational opportunities. This strikes a chord with a lot of work that I’ve been involved in the UK which is increasingly focussed upon Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems and a more managed approach to dealing with flood risk.
The Dutch Dialogues session reported back on a three day charette that had taken place ahead of the conference. Underpinning all of the work were four main development principles for the future of the city – Firstly, that it should be safer; second, that it should be resilient; third that it should be sustainable; and fourth that it should be attractive. These are clearly the four main priniciples that should be instilled into development across the globe.
The remainder of the session provided outputs from the charette that focussed upon the removal of culverts and flood walls from the high level canals around the city. It was noted that despite New Orleans being a water dominated city, you don’t see the water like you would in Venice or Amsterdam. The main solution, the Dutch suggest, is to provide more space for water to circulate and be stored, which in dry times can be used to the recreational and aesthetic advantage of the city, as well as providing attractive corridors for cyclists and pedestrians to link city districts.
The Dutch Dialogues work can be seen here: http://www.dutchdialogues.com/
I met Shana at lunchtime who introduced me to some of her planning friends, many of whom were displaying posters in the exhibition hall. I also went along to the AECOM stand – it was good to see the planning and design part of the business being displayed here.
I went to a session on working globally after lunch. Although this was more focussed upon APA members there were a lot of good
ideas discussed about how planners can move around the globe to work, rather than being typecast into a single country. In particular the potential for planners working as part of international relief operations was seen as a massive opportunity for good by many and there are even the startings of a “Planners without Borders” orgainisation in the US, something that could be mirrored in the UK.In the afternoon I went to a couple of sessions on planning for climate change. This focussed upon a number of planning-led initiatives in the US, in particular state-level Climate Action Plans, which some research was showing had made small impacts in reducing CO2 levels, although obviously nothing like the reductions required to reverse predicted climate change impacts.
After the session finisihed I met up with my pal Sarah who used to work in London and we had some beer. I then went to TW Fins (on a very boisterous Bourbon Street) where I had a very civilised meal with some great people from the APA, who like everyone i’ve met here so far are absolutely passionate about planning.
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