10+1 Keyword for better plan, design and manage Cities

 (tourismvancouver.com)

In his post of July 29th 2016 (http://dailyhive.com/vancouver/new-vancouver-chief-planner-fixes>) Brent Toderian, former Vancouver Chief Urban Planner, international counselor, Head of Toderian UrbanWorks and President of the Council fo Canadian Urbanism (http://www.canadianurbanism.ca/board-members/), makes a list of 5 fixes that the new Vancouver Chief Urban Planner, about to be appointed, might adopt in his mandate

The following week at the exit of the piece it was learned that the new Chief Planner will Gil Kelley and will officially take office on September 15. Going to play a role vacant since 2015, Kelley is about to operate in a managerial apparatus vital offshoot of the City that recently seems to have undergone a series of excessive interference by politicians.

I think that it's extremely interesting to discuss about Toderian's recipe because not only it represents a high-profiles technical point of view for the sake of the entire Vancouver community, but, above all, an opportunity fora in deep reflection about cultural and disciplinary issues that can be very useful also for other Countries, including Italy.

According to his words,  In 2012, Brent Toderian, after 6 years of service, leaves the post of Chief Planner, expressing its concern over the gradual and constant political interference in the technical aspects of the management of urban issues if not the lack of transparency from the decisions taken. In Italy, the principle of the separation of the political guidance and administrative management has been fully introduced in our country since 1993, in several stages, with the so-called "Bassanini" reform, and now well-established in our legislation. However, it is common experience that such separation is perhaps a little 'less practiced in everyday life and long would be the discussion about the usefulness of this principle led to extremes.

Toderian states that Vancouver Planning Department is "successful and respected locally, and admired around the world" thanks to the presence within the work team of professionals with a great technical preparation, passion and talent who have fought hard to protect the integrity of city planning, even at personal cost.

Indeed, both the work of its predecessors (Ray Spaxman, Larry Beasley and Ann McAfee) that his subsequent commitment made the largest Metropolitan City of British Columbia able to reach the ambitious goal of being placed consistently at the top of the annual rankings of the most livable and attracting cities in the world. 

(http://vancouver.ca/your-government/organizational-structure.aspx)

Thanks to this and the extreme confidence in the work of the City Manager Sadhu Johnston, Toderian confesses positive, though cautious, about the possible return to that style of planning based on the principles and values ​​that have made it big in the past, the City of Vancouver. In particular it would be possible to turn the page if it were applied the following 5 fixes:

1. Reestablish the planning department’s long-held reputation for intellectual and political/non-partisan “independence”
2. Reestablish the planning department’s (and City Hall leadership’s) strong urban design culture, and reputation for knowing how to do density well
3. Rebuild the planning department’s (and City Hall’s) credibility for authentic and transparent public engagement
4. Reestablish on-going lines of communication with Vancouver’s communities, and be a highly visible “champion” for a great planning
5. Rebuild the culture of excellence, innovation and creative risk-taking in city making, and rebuild staffs trust in upper management

It's a constant exhortation to "restore" and "rebuild" the conditions that have fostered in the past years the primacy of Vancouver worldwide recognized as a model of good management and virtuous integration among  aspirations and programs led by the Community sponsored and conveyed by the Government and the City Council, expectations and development plans by developers, and project proposals from technical / bureaucratic apparatus, sponsored and conveyed by the Planning Department.

Following I report what I think are the 10 +1 keywords contained in the order, in the previous 5 points:

 #reputation, #indipendence, #culture, #credibility, #engagement, #transparency, #excellence, #innovation, #risk-taking, #creativity, #trust.

I believe that these keywords represent a sort of universal organizational pillars, a true manifesto of how a balanced, efficient and effective Planning Department, should be handled. But not only.

This would be compared to a solid construction that consists of a base and 8 columns linked by a lintel, a conceptual, organizational and social framework able to self sustain over time, which can guarantee to the organization that follows a high probability of success and prosperity regardless of the organization's proper mission.

I'll be more clear.

I think we can agree that a good #reputation is like a powerfull business card that can introduce a mesure of our #credibility, a base onto which build #trust with people inside and outside our organization. But a good and sound #reputation must be underpinned by a not desputable intellectual and political #indipendence and it is also a function of the quality and solidity of planning and design #culture and the degree of #trust among people inside the organization that develops and reinforce itself thanks to the achievement of common goals.

The more the organization is able to follow the path of #innovation in thinking and doing, the more it's prepared for #risk-taking that's inherent in the real world practice, consolidating over time an attitude shared and practiced by insiders, producing with #creativity plans and high technical value projects.

But the high technical value of the proposals is not enough to maintain and enhance a good #reputation: it is necessary to promote, with a strong commitment and in with great #transparency, the correct and effective #engagement of all stakeholders, albeit technical and creative choices should contain the correct balance between the legitimate interests of all, ever heading to #excellence.

That should be the activity and the mission critical agenda of any public department, for testing the #reputation of the entire organization, where the demonstration of political and intellectual #indipendence is essential to be able to play the necessary role of composition impartial of more or less legitimate interests within the public "arena" .

Frankly, I think that how stated above represents a real challenge for all those who deal with urban planning issues, and not only. I believe that these concepts must be the baseline to establish or restart the practice of any office or department that deals with the management of the res pubblica.

And I also believe that this baseline shoud be on charge of both managers and politicians. 

But that's another story.