Defiant Imagination

Portland, Vancouver: perfect urban planning, perfect cities?

I couldn’t help but comment about this article published on www.newgeography.com about Portland’s and Vancouver’s urban planning model, in which its author wonders if these models could be applied to Australian cities. These comments might upset some of you, but I choose to speak honestly.

There seems to be somewhat of a discrepancy between the way certain cities portray themselves to the outside world and the reality. Vancouver is often praised for its highway-free boundaries and high-density downtown core. I found these areas (downtown, Yaletown and the West End) to be mostly spiritless and, dare I say it, soulless. Some vast areas of Yaletown and the West End are strictly residential (we’re talking about huge condominium towers here) and deeply lack these small stores that usually give life to neighbourhoods. In the West End, I walked by some condo buildings whose first floor was non existent – the structure relied on cement pillars, suppressing all hopes of creating a community feeling. What would Jane Jacobs think about this?

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