The Professional Planners of Windsor and Essex County Want to Scale Down

You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.
- Abraham Lincoln

Yesterday, Mark let the cat out of the bag. The Professional Planners in Windsor and Essex County want the region to ...Scale Down.

The first Annual Report of the Inter-municipal Planning Consultation Committee says it all. I was stunned after reading this document. They want smaller, walkable, compact, energy-efficient communities. They acknowledge that fossil fuels will continue to become more expensive and less readily available and that these factors will impact not only our ability to get around but also our local economic activities.

Their position with respect to fossil fuel price and availability was reinforced on January 18, 2008 when an economic outlook paper was published by CIBC economists Jeff Rubin and Peter Buchanan. The CIBC report was featured in The Windsor Star (including reader comments) so our local officials must be aware that in the near-term we will likely begin to see tangible affects including ever higher fuel prices and lower sales of large, less fuel-efficient vehicles.

Energy efficiency, fossil fuel scarcity and climate change were also featured in the consultant’s report to the City of Hamilton. Richard Gilbert, research director at the Centre for Sustainable Transportation, was hired by Hamilton City Council in June of 2005 to assess that city’s plans for public transit, city fleet, goods movement and their plans to develop lands around the Hamilton International Airport as an economic hub.

In his report “Hamilton: The Electric City” Gilbert stresses that energy use, conservation and production should be the primary factors driving all new development in the region. In a post on Hamilton civic affairs blog raisethehammer.org Ryan McGreal reported on a presentation by Gilbert at Environment Hamilton’s Annual General Meeting (Mar. 30/06). In his speech Gilbert told his audience that in 25 years shortfalls in supply would drive fuel costs to six times the current rate. Ryan went on to present Gilbert’s principles of land use for an energy constrained world:

1. Make energy use and production the principle determinant of land-use decisions.


2. Give ‘greenfield’ development low priority.


3. No abandonment of existing low-density areas. (Target them for intensification)


4. Plan for a mixing of uses.


5. Aggressively pursue ‘brownfield’ development.


6. Foster vibrant centres.
   
7. Arrange that development supports low-energy transport.

Further reading of Ryan’s blog and this other, demonstrates that Windsor is not unique when it comes to ignoring good advice.

There are other cities out there that are considering a fossil fuel deprived future. In May 2006 the City of Portland Peak Oil Task Force was formed. By council resolution, 12 citizens of various backgrounds began examining potential social and economic consequences of “Peak Oil” on Portland. On January 18, 2007 they released a report for public comment. Their findings “illustrate the central role that oil and natural gas play in our daily lives” and they exposed “profound economic and social vulnerabilities that could result as fuel supplies cease to be abundant and inexpensive”. Their recommendations were:

1. Reduce fossil fuel consumption by 50% over the next 25 years.


2. Educate citizens about peak oil and foster community and community-based solutions.


3. Engage business, government and community leaders to initiate planning and policy change.


4. Support land use patterns that reduce transportation needs, promote walkability, and provide easy access to services and transportation options.


5. Design infrastructure to promote transportation options, facilitate efficient movement of freight and prevent stranded investments.


6. Encourage energy-efficient and renewable transportation choices.


7. Expand building energy-efficiency programs and incentives.


8. Preserve farmland and expand local food production and processing.


9. Identify and promote sustainable business opportunities.


10. Redesign the safety net and protect vulnerable and marginalized populations.


11. Prepare emergency plans for sudden and severe shortages.

The final report was presented to Portland City Council on March 7, 2007. At that meeting the council adopted a resolution based on the number one recommendation. Portland’s goal is to reduce fossil fuel use by half. City bureaus were directed to incorporate this goal into internal operations as well as making it part of planning guidelines, building energy use and transportation. In a press release from the Portland Office of Sustainable Development director Susan Anderson said of the report and the city resolution “The Peak Oil Task Force report underscores the need to accelerate our efforts. All of the recommended actions also help the City meet other established community goals such as clean air and water, livability, carbon dioxide reductions and economic growth.”

So here we are, Professional Planners around North America are working to prepare cities for a future with less available fossil fuels. They are advocating walkable communities. They want priorities to shift toward compact and complete communities to allow people access to services and businesses without having to rely on cars. Cities are being exhorted to stop sprawling out and to intensify already developed areas.

The Professional Planners of the Windsor/Essex Region see the need to prepare for the same challenges. I hope that the IMPCC will continue to work together and make good plans for our future. I believe in this group and their abilities. It seems the big challenge is to make our elected officials understand that this is the future we need to prepare for. For our region to be successful we need to…well, scale down.

If there was one city that I would like Windsor to emulate it is Portland, Oregon. We could do worse.