THE CITIES SUMMIT 2012

Mayor Bistek: It’s My First

Time In Canada

by ALEX P. VIDAL

Vancouver, British Columbia — In his first ever trip in Canada, Mayor Herbert “Bistek” Bautista of Quezon City, Philippines was one of the panelists where some 40 international business and urban leaders discuss various issues particularly the business of city building during the two-day Cities Summit 2012, Feb. 1-2, at the Vancouver Convention Center West Building.

“It’s my first time in Canada and I have just signed a reaffirmation of our (Quezon City) sisterhood with New Westminster (British Columbia’s oldest and former capital city) Mayor Wayne Wright,” Bautista said in an exclusive interview.

Bautista said he and Wright discussed the possibility of expanding their ties not only in the area of education and culture but also in technology, economic and human resources.

COMMON

“Our cities have one thing in common,” Bautista pointed out. “Quezon City is the former capital of the Philippines, while New Westminster is the former capital of the British Columbia.”

Quezon City and New Westminster City signed a sisterhood pact in 1991, Bautista disclosed.

He clarified that Quezon City and Vancouver City don’t have any sistehood agreement but he was tapped as panelist along with Mayor Naheed Nenshi of Calgary, Milo Medin, Google, Vice-President of Access Services; Gordon Innes, CEO of London & Partners; Courtney Pratt, chairman of Toronto Region Research Alliance; David Helliwell, CEO of Pulse Energy, among other mayors and business leaders.

The Cities Summit 2012 was hosted by Vancouver City Mayor Gregor Robertson and the Vancouver Economic Commission.

Vancouver hosted a global Summit on the pressures city regions must address as the world urbanizes at an increasingly rapid pace.

URBAN CENTERS

International speakers, thought leaders from both the public and corporate sectors, and participants will be engaged in discussions on the solutions urban centres and their citizens can apply to address strain on cities and their environments, while supporting responsible growth and innovation.

The world is reportedly urbanizing faster than ever. For the first time, half of the planet’s population-over 3.5 billion people-live in cities. Another two billion will join them by 2030. This great migration is set to define urban life for generations to come, said the summit description.

The Cities Summit assembled international business and urban leaders to design the creative, practical solutions for a sustainable urban future.

Cities Summit 2012

Vancouver has been recognized for zoning and development models that have created a livable, sustainable city.

The session explored the questions about the future development innovations, land-use decisions, building codes and technologies that will define the 21st Century city.

It also outlined the business of development within cities and explored the creative approaches necessary to build thriving and affordable city neighborhoods.

VANCOUVER CITY MAYOR GREGOR ROBERTSON SPEECH

Picture 180,000 people packing up their possessions, leaving their rural homes and moving to a city. That’s what happens around the world every day. Over the next year, the planet’s cities will see an influx of 65 million people.

It’s the largest and fastest migration in human history: the urbanization of the human race.

It’s in this context that Vancouver hosted the first Cities Summit. We welcome a delegation of over 400 participants, with senior executives from Google, Cisco and IBM joining participants from 31 cities, including London, Vienna, Copenhagen and Singapore, at the Vancouver Convention Centre.

GOAL

Our goal with the Cities Summit is to bring together international urban and business leaders to find creative, workable solutions that can secure a sustainable future for the world’s cities - and create new economic opportunities in the process.

Our city is uniquely suited not just to host this convention, but to lead the change it will spur. This is a chance to showcase Vancouver’s talent in city-building and leadership in sustainability, to promote our local businesses and connect them with new opportunities around the world.

But we can only grasp the opportunity we’re facing if we understand how enormous this urban change really is. Over the next two generations, the world’s urban population will double in size, with three billion more people making their homes in our cities. We will have to duplicate a scale of housing and infrastructure that took centuries to build - in only 40 years.

INVEST

All told, cities will need to invest $350 trillion over the next three decades on infrastructure alone. And that’s only part of the mammoth political, economic, social and environmental upheaval such a massive, rapid change imposes.

This is change with the scope of the Industrial Revolution - only world-wide, and switched to fast forward. How do we deal with it to shape the future of every person on the planet for generations to come?

Failure is not an option, because it’s in our cities that many of our biggest opportunities and most potent challenges are playing out.

Cities are the source of 70 to 80 per cent of greenhouse gas pollution today; doubling that would be disastrous. We must dramatically reduce our carbon footprint.

Communities and local economies that can withstand our current levels of energy consumption and waste will find them far more damaging as cities scale up rapidly. Cities that deplete their resources and degrade their environments in a race to build the tallest or fastest or biggest will find their victories short-lived as global demand shifts toward efficiency and sustainability.

HOPE

It is this shift that offers real hope that we can still get it right. Rapid urbanization holds tremendous promise alongside that risk. Done right, it creates jobs, conserves resources and improves quality of life.

We can build the cities we need to build for future generations, and create economic opportunity in today’s climate of uncertainty.

Our cities can grow in a way that strengthens our economy, with opportunities for entrepreneurs and good-paying jobs.

We’ve spent the past three years working together to craft a strategy to make Vancouver the world’s greenest city. We’re home to a thriving clean technology hub with globally competitive companies. No city on Earth can top the innovative spirit and sustainability expertise in our businesses, neighborhoods, community organizations and non-profits.

Hosting the Cities Summit will put us at the centre of the conversation about the future of the world’s cities, as we bring business, political and urban thought leaders together to catalyze investment, job creation and new urban ideas.

No city is better positioned than Vancouver to lead this change and to prosper from that opportunity. /MP