SPEAKER:

Carole Després. Université Laval, Architecture, Québec, Canada

TITLE:

"It's a matter of TIME! Ecocities and quality of life in sprawling aging cities"

WHERE:

At the Ecocity World Summit Montréal 2011, during the keynote "Ecomobility and Urban Planning in Ecocities"

WHEN:

Friday, August 26, 2011

ABSTRACT:

To address the challenges of ecological, economic, and social sustainability, what roles can urban planning and design play in sprawling and aging urban regions like Quebec City, where the population is shrinking or expected to stagnate in the next few decades? I propose that the context of a slow demographic growth should be seen as an opportunity to resist the persistent economic development paradigm too often used as the main rationale for locating new urban infrastructure. I suggest that more attention should be paid to the daily needs of the population in place to identify which urban policies and projects could best support the adaptation of suburban lifestyles in sustainable ways while contributing to improve people's quality of life.

Greater consideration should be given to the role played by time in everyday life.

Thanks to advances in information and communications technology, decision makers, government officials and community stakeholders can share the responsibility of coordinating the uses of the city on a daily, weekly or seasonal basis to favour the adoption of sustainable behaviours. For instance, work and study schedules of large employers and higher education institutions could be adjusted to reduce traffic volume at peak travel times and to relieve the pressure on public transit. More flexibility in choosing where one needs to work on a weekly basis to be productive can also contribute to reduce daily commuting. Underused neighbourhood facilities could be transformed into gathering and service points for retired people and workers who are mobile, self-employed or telecommuters, favouring the replacement of long commutes with short walks or bike rides. This reflection is inspired by the results of the research I have led for 20 years on Quebec City suburbs within an interdisciplinary group of researchers, by European experiences, as well as by my involvement in the working group on sustainable mobility at the City of Quebec in 2009-2010.