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Urban Planning + Architecture

Notes on Scot Hein's Quitting Vancouver's Planning Department

An urban design prof passes on Hein's farewell memo, and reads it through a dark lens.

Patrick Condon 9 May 2014TheTyee.ca

Professor Patrick Condon is chair of the Urban Design Program at UBC's School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture. Find his previous piece on The Tyee here.

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Hein at his desk: A lot of what you probably like in Vancouver is there in part because of his work at city hall.

A note about a recent resignation from the City of Vancouver Planning department is in order.

For the many in this city who don't know Scot Hein, it's worth pointing out, as I often do to my urban planning students at UBC, that almost everything you like about the City of Vancouver Scot has had a hand in.

Do you like the feeling of the green-way at the 12th and Arbutus project? Scot was a major force behind that.

Do you like the way many of our newer buildings add to the life of the city by presenting a warm and exciting edge to the city street? Scot had a hand in that.

Do you appreciate the same things that have made our city famous around the world? Attention to public spaces? A concern for human scale? Environmental remediation at Olympic Village? Trees? Benches? Small parks throughout the city? Generous sidewalks? Buildings that are not just about making an impression from a distance but also about making your life in the city more rewarding? Scot did that. Lots of that.

For a full generation Scot has been that unsung city official working at a high level of expertise but underneath the radar. Under the radar is where he likes it. Scot is happy if others could claim the credit. Because Scot knows that good city building is a collaborative, not a singular, effort.

Now after a full two decades the results of his efforts are all around to see. And yet very few know his name. 

Some do of course. The developers who have sometimes chafed at his suggestions, only to realize in time that their projects were more valuable for his intervention. The neighbourhood residents whose ideas were ultimately, and to their delight, eventually realized in project form. The politicians and other public officials with whom he had the immense patience necessary to diplomatically share the benefit of his life long investigations of what makes a city a good place to live, and how we could use real estate development to both increased economic value but also, and most importantly, improve the day to day life of our people. 

But I also know that his departure from the city was difficult. He is a man who often said to me, and others, that "I love my city more than my job." And now in leaving his job the city has lost him. 

Scot left us with a summary of his beliefs the day he departed. Something like a manifesto, it's worth reading and considering. But as you do, please make one substitution along the way. Wherever it says "we enjoy" and "we recognize" please insert "we once enjoyed but no longer do...." and "We once recognized but no longer do......."  My sense is this comes closer to the truth. 

Scot's departure is too important to the City of Vancouver for us not to understand what a tragedy it represents. 

Scot's farewell note to friends and associates follows. 

With Thanks and Gratitude
May 6, 2014

Today I am leaving the City of Vancouver, and the important work of the Urban Design Studio, after 20 wonderful years of learning daily from each of you. I will tremendously miss our time together. A heartfelt thanks to you all for extending such a generosity of spirit that affirms your love for our city.

Reflective of our work together, I continue to appreciate a few simple ideas and remain hopeful of their influence:

We enjoy a magical relationship with nature, with a shared responsibility to protect and enhance at the regional, city, precinct, block and site scale. Revealing local aspects of larger environmental systems will strengthen community identity and contribute local amenity;

We enjoy a high level of public interest in urban design emanating from a shared "pride of place" and recognize our responsibility, collectively, to create special places for local communities to thrive;

We enjoy an enlightened approach to the creation of civic value through the regulation of market interests that can, when practiced thoughtfully and transparently, effectively align this value with community needs in the moment;

We recognize that thoughtful city shaping must start by co-creating design responses at the neighbourhood scale that reinforce and enhance local, authentic identity;

We recognize that the opinions and insights of citizens matter, and that an honourable and creative process of design engagement is the most effective method of achieving shared outcomes;

We recognize that our larger civic identity is about strong neighbourhoods which serve as platforms for the creation of social capital, and self-reliance, towards a sustainable future. We recognize that the image of the city should reflect this identity and

We recognize that urban design does matter, and that urban design performance is the driver of value creation, and that a rigorous process of co-discovering appropriate project scale, form and character must be conducted first before any new economic value is determined and assigned.

I share with all of you my fondest regards and best wishes. I tip my hat to you all. Scot  [Tyee]

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