Moving Through

Over the weekend MOV stepped outside with the latest event in the Not an Architectural Spearker’s Series. Moving Through was a series of walks and talks around the city centred around transit, architecture and urban planning.

Participants explored the city and the built environment from new angles, considering the way that we live, work and move around Vancouver.

At the end, everyone gathered at SFU Woodwards for a talk by Gordon Price, Director of the City Program at SFU. Price asked everyone in attendance about why we need to change.

As he noted, the way we do things has created a lot of economic prosperity and allowed people to live stable lives and raise families with good careers and nice homes. We have lived in a time and place that has been very politically and socially stable. We have a good thing going right now, so why change it?

The environment is changing. Many signs point to us reaching the carrying capacity of the Earth, and this will have far-reaching implications for how we organize our society. The political and economic stability we have enjoyed is not necessarily a given in the future.

Vancouver’s population is growing and construction is not keeping up with demand for new housing. New people moving to Vancouver are going to need places to live but where to put them, and in what kind of accommodation? We’re running out of brownfields to redevelop within the city limits so we’re going to have to look hard at the municipalities outside Vancouver. Our population is aging as well and these people will need to be housed and cared for.

He ended with his wish to see us begin the changes we need before the situation becomes dire. Some sobering food for thought.

Podcasts and video footage from the event are coming soon. Until then, check out some photos from the event.

Images: Kellan Higgins, Michael Schwartz and Gala Milne