by Franklin Wayne Pouley <culturex@vcn.bc.ca>
Model Sustainable Villages: Bold New Vision of Urbanization
The usenet disussion group <vcn.false-creek> considers any matter pertaining to model villages of the past, present and future to be on topic. However, it is focused on the False Creek Model Sustainable Village and involvement in it will increase locally as the public consultation process proceeds. When the project is actually built, the web site and usenet (and/or listserv) discussions will continue.
False Creek is being planned as a model of sustainable development by the City of Vancouver <www.city.vancouver.bc.ca> and its private consultants. Since the ~80 acre site will be rezoned in the year 2,000 and development is projected to start that year it is in effect a "Millenium Project". The total cost, including land will likely be around $ one billion. According to city literature, approximately 5,000 people will live in this family-oriented development. From walking around the site I make the following observations. Most of the residents would be in the area from Science World along the shoreline to Cambie Street Bridge and inland to First Avenue. Currently that is mostly industrial yards and mostly owned by the city. From First Avenue to Second there is light industry and commercial use presently. The view of this complex of buildings from the waterfront is not aesthetic, perhaps to the point of being "unsightly".
I don't know yet if the water itself (False Creek Inlet) will be developed. Science World <www.scienceworld.bc.ca> is a 17 story Buckminster Fuller Geodesic Sphere built initially for Expo '86. A Fuller Triton City at least in a scaled down version would complement Science World and would go in the inlet itself. There are various reasons for thinking that apartment complexes, then cities will start to expand onto the seas <http://users.uniserve.com/~culturex>. One question I have is whether the water in False Creek can be made very clear and then used for recreational scuba diving and aquariums. If so, an underwater walkway with windows could connect the 80 hectare (pop. 10-15,000) International Village on the north side of False Creek with the Sustainable Village on the south side.
In issuing its first consultancy contract, the City of Vancouver has decided that it should first understand more about the parameters of sustainable development and full cost accounting. Sustainable development is very much centred in HUMAN NEEDS. It has to do with meeting the needs of to-day without jeopardizing our ability to meet the needs of to-morrow. The stakeholders will articulate those needs. What DO they need to live, work and prosper in a great community within a great city which expresses well its caring about its people and their environment? Read the City of Vancouver slogan: TO CREATE A GREAT CITY OF COMMUNITIES WHICH CARES ABOUT ITS PEOPLE ITS ENVIRONMENT AND THE OPPORTUNITIES TO LIVE, WORK AND PROSPER. It seems to me that is a fair statement in general terms, of human needs applicable also at the level of the local community like False Creek. How well can one community of 5,000 meet all of these criteria? I believe it can do so very, very well.
What I am not so sure of is whether the political will and leadership are here to make it happen. That being so, the world's first pollution-free "Eco-Industrial Village" may have to happen in another country, perhaps Malaysia. See <http://www.MDC.com.my>. Vancouver Public Library also has videos on two successful Chinese Communes, one rural and one urban. Each has a population in the low thousands. On Oct. 30/95 Dr. Wally N'Dow, Chair of Habitat II spoke at Harbour Centre in Vancouver and announced China's policy to build 500 new cities over C21 (to accommodate what I expect will be an additional 2 billion people). They may want to build pollution-free Eco-Industrial Villages.
Full cost accounting should be called full cost-benefit accounting since every cost that I know of has an associated benefit. The philosophy of full cost-benefit analysis on a new community built according to the needs of its citizens (a la the definition of sustainable development above) opens up the definition of culture/community/civilization itself. One quick way to get a handle on this is to ask: If we know the price of everything do we automatically know the value of everything? No. Is there anything in generally accepted accounting principles which measures "the opportunity to live, work and prosper"? No. The complete picture of a community or village like False Creek will yield a full cost-benefit accounting of it and that picture is closer to what an anthropologist or missionary would describe than what an accountant would describe. Given that, people like anthropologists and missionaries should be invited to participate in False Creek planning.
Future Villages for this planet (or any other for that matter) must provide a livelihood for their citizens, either within their individual borders or in co-operation with other centres and regions of production. Hence the concept of "Industrial Villages" which provide industries or places of employment. There is almost no limit to the variety for IV's. The population of 5,000 is reasonable for a cycling/pedestrian oriented community. However, it could be located on 8 acres or 800 acres instead of 80. An 8 acre site would be suitable for those who like high density, high rise living. This is the approximate area for a Buckminster Fuller "Triton City", population 5,000. The city of Baltimore almost built one for its harbour after the U.S. Navy had said it could be built and was seaworthy. An 800 acre site would be suitable for an agricultural or inland aquaculture community.
If we go back to our definition of sustainable development and that crucial criterion, "needs", it is clear that employment is a very important need. A "great community which cares about its people" will solve the unemployment problem by building industries into the community. The standard library business directories will list many U.S. industries which are greater than 50 percent worker owned. Some employ thousands. Thus the worker-owned industrial complex should be given serious consideration for False Creek.
For some time I have been on the roster of B.C. Benefits service providers. The focus of B.C. Benefits is on employable unemployed. In addition to welfare, employment insurance and other benefits, hundreds of millions of dollars/year in B.C. go into pre-employment programs, retraining and re-education. None of these programs are necessary if people are employed.
Therefore, government accountants and financiers should calculate the financier's "present value" to all of these expenditures from the public purse, discount it to give the taxpayers a deal and buy factors of production for the employable unemployed with the discounted p.v. The workers would own and manage their industrial complexes and IV's like False Creek.
U.S. precedents have already been mentioned. Mondragon in Spain is also frequently cited as an example of a large worker-owned industrial complex. However, such projects will always be vulnerable to the predations of the 358 billionaire clans who hold as much wealth as the poorest 2.3 billion of the planet (see Sustainable Times, CUSO, Fall/96). Therefore they must strive for full economic self-sufficiency. Success means an end to unemployment and absolute poverty.
Buying the Industrial Complex: What should the people of False Creek buy in the way of "factors of production". The answer is "Whatever is required to provide all of the amenities for their chosen lifestyle." That takes us back to the definition of full cost-benefit accounting and the realization that it is not a matter of the economy but a choice among many economies.
Here is a general picture of one kind of economy for False Creek. Picture the current industrial/commercial area of about 500 ft. x 4,000 ft. (152.4 meters x 1219.2 meters) between First and Second Avenues covered and under one roof. It could have multi-levels and the roof tops could be landscaped to rival the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. The available volume of space for industries could be quadrupled. Then the residents of False Creek could purchase the very best of computerized-robotized industries from around the world to make all the objects for their chosen economy. Their data needs, including educational, could be stored on computer files. More than one IV would be needed to meet the economic self sufficiency criterion. Therefore False Creek can be a centre for organizing a complex of contiguous and non-contiguous IV's in B.C. Since the Vancouver megalopolis will increase by greater than 1,000,000 between now and 2020, many IV's could be organized.
In aggregate, a collection of IV's could make all of the amenities of life. As a Learning Channel program stated the other night, "If you don't grow it, you mine it." In the terminology of the Venus Project <venus@ct.net> it all gets back to "Resource Based Economics" (RBE). Every economy reworks the natural resources into whatever we need. It is obvious that the world economy operates this way. If 6 billion people can provide all of the amenities of life from the natural resources of the planet, can 6 million? 6 thousand? You see the problem. Any commerce department at a major university could provide the answer. I would suggest giving a grant to 20 or 30 such departments and insist that they arrive at their answers independently.
We might call such a collection of IV's an EcoCity. the October/November 1997 issue of "Act Locally Calendar" by the EcoCity Network <ecocity@vcn.bc.ca> refers to a panel discussion at Langara College on "how to make a sustainable community which can provide for all its own food needs." (p. 2). If a community can refashion and control nature to provide all of its food needs it can do the same to provide its needs for clothing, furniture, transportation, housing units, medicines, electronic devices, toys and recreational things.
End Legislated Poverty <elp@vcn.bc.ca> issues a newspaper called "The Long Haul". There is no refuting their theme that poverty is legislated or man made. By the same token, we can have a legislated or man made end to absolute poverty. Relative wealth and poverty will always be with us unless we have a society of clones.
There are two main kinds of poverty. Poverty associated with physical and/or mental health problems and poverty associated with unemployment and uncomplicated by health problems. Health-related poverty is a problem for the health professions and is outside the scope of this essay.
The Bechtel Company is one of the giants of general contracting and civil engineering on the planet (like Shimizu of Japan or Davy of London). It could construct False Creek under one contract. Ask Vancouver's Engineering Department for a second opinion <dave_rudberg@city.vancouver.bc.ca>. The competition among general contractors could be fierce. The winner would have the honour of building the world's first zero-pollution Eco-Industrial Village, a logical next step from the world's first zero-pollution Eco-Industrial Park which Bechtel have already built. For another opinion on the prospect of building a zero pollution IV contact environmental consultant Jay Woods <jwoods@sr.radiks.net>.
In 1991, an astounding 80 percent of British Columbians voted for workable referendum and recall. Therefore the majority within each of the major parties voting, from left to right favoured a workable system of direct democracy. The massively corrupt political system of B.C. delayed as long as possible and then produced as unworkable a piece of legislation as it could: the Initiative and Recall Act of 1996. To those who question my assertion, "massively corrupt" I reply that this is by Constitution a "democratic society" but in actuality it is not. That leads us to reasonably ask the question "Who has STOLEN our democracy?" False Creek could become the Centre of CyberDemocracy for B.C. just as Putrajaya will become the centre for electronic democracy in Malaysia. False Creek's CyberParliament would be linked to <http://www.elections.bc.ca> to keep everyone up to date on referenda and recall actions. Even now, referendum and recall would be workable if all citizens of B.C. had internet access. That will happen in 5-10 years. Current leadership in Canadian Direct Democracy is provided by the CDD organization <http://www.npsnet.com/cdd/> and the Electoral Change Coalition of B.C. <http://www.ecco.bc.ca>.
False Creek Village should practice direct democracy in that anyone employed by the community as a whole will be employed on the basis of one eligible voter, one vote, all the time. If the contract of employment is longer than moment-to-moment (as many will almost certainly be) then that length of contract decision also comes back to the voters. Canada is a "democratic society" according to the exact wording in the Constitution. However, the multi-party system as it stands has set out to undermine both the spirit and letter of the law. False Creek can do its part toward ending that injustice.
In today's society there are many parents who must work outside the home and raise pre-school children at the same time or who choose to do so. Johnson and Johnson company has pioneered daycare in the workplace. The False Creek Industrial Complex can build daycares into the work place.
False creek should be able to demonstrate that quality home ownership is within reach of even the poorest British Columbian. Allow that land in Vancouver is very expensive. Deduct an amount equal to the difference between Vancouver land and land in outlying regions where it is a few hundred or thousand an acre. After that, False Creek can demonstrate that it is possible to build quality, affordable homes, finished, with all services and ready to move in with the cat and piano for $45/sq. ft. or less. One way to do this is via manufactured housing. Some 90 percent of housing is manufactured in Sweden. False creek Industries should buy a Swedish Manufactured Homes Factory. Another possibility is plastic housing, eg from Royal Plastics in Ontario. The Squamish Non Profit Housing Association (POB 64, Squamish, V0N 3G0) can provide a second opinion.
The bottom line is the bottom line. Certain criteria must be met within current technology and current budgets. Those buying in will want the best buy for the dollar.If they buy in and then discover they were "led down the garden path" by Vancouver Administration and its consultants there will be hell to pay.
To summarize the text above I have explained that False Creek can expect:
I suppose it is possible that knowing this can be achieved the buyers will deliberately short change themselves. But everything I know of buyer behaviour says otherwise. Moreover, such foolish buyers would be the laughing stocks of the global community as we go further with international internet communications. It would take an extraordinary effort of political administrators and consultants now to confuse, mislead and "dumb down" the citizens concerning this project.
There are no known limits to the cosmological realm. Even this small universe has billions of galaxies x billions of stars. All of the natural resources needed for life as we know it are in space. The law of conservation of mass-energy tells us we aren't going to run out of natural resources. They just get rearranged. In due course, man will be able to make everything needed from mass-energy at the sub-atomic level. There are no limits to carrying capacity and no depletion problems in cosmological terms. However, within the limits of a given set of time-space parameters civilization can indeed run out of resources and space with accompanying suffering and loss of life. Therefore both ZPG (or NPG) and UPG (unlimited population growth) activists are right...and wrong. A little common sense must prevail.
The Southeast Asian Post <seapost@intergate.bc.ca> another first rate alternative newspaper has an article entitled "Condo on the High Seas Anyone?" (August 6-20/97). Knut Kloster of Norway is building his floating "World of ResidenSea" and "already 50 apartments have been sold". Such floating condos could be built at False Creek Inlet as part of the industrial activities of False Creek. Floating condos from many countries could interlock at sea or around an island or along a shoreline. The nomadic villages then become a city. Question: given that these C21 nomads are ceded a strip of land by some benevolent country will the U.N. recognize the nomads as a sovereign state and U.N. member? Consider the article "Nauru: The World's Wealthiest Nation?" in another first rate alternative newspaper, the Sustainable Times, Fall 1996, p.4. See <http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/CommunitySupport/CUSO/home2.html>. "Nauru is the world's smallest independent republic with a land area of 21 sq. km., population 10,000." It is in the Central Pacific. What if IV's were to cluster around such an island or strip of shoreline which had been ceded outright to them as Alaska was ceded by Russia to the U.S.? The host country would receive the benefits of a technology transfer and for that reason alone might grant the land. For example, would South Africa do so? Iran? Philippines? Iraq? North Korea?
NASA is expected to build a global network of huge balloons stationed at 20-30 miles for communications and other purposes. They would save on the cost of satellites. Buckminster Fuller had proposed even larger "Sky Cities", large geodesic spheres like Science World which could even be miles in diameter. (that is another reason carrying capacity should be measured in volume, not area). NASA SP-413 is a donut-shaped Space City for 10,000 designed by a team of 31 scientists in 1977. The major industry of SP-413 was expected to be that of converting sun light to microwaves and beaming them to earth for conversion to electricity. Asteroid mining is another industry. Picture a NASA SP-413 built around a Fuller Sky City. It could be formed by many seaborne floating condos and then lift from the water into the skies, then take "The Ultimate Migration" as Robert Goddard titled his famous time sealed manuscript, never to return to earth.
Why not False Creek as a starting point for an International Trail reaching all the way around the planet? Canada is creating a hiking trail from Atlantic to Pacific to Arctic. <tctf@total.net>. For $36 you can pay for a metre of trail and put a name on a plaque along the trail. On Sept. 30/97 a man named Jay Wan reached Vancouver having spent four months hiking from the Atlantic coast. His next trek was to be across Korea to raise awareness on the Korean famine. The International Trail could link the Canadian Trail with the bicycle trail being created in U.K. as a millenial project to link 20 million people and with other similar international ventures. Dry sleeping lockers for wet nights at the camp grounds, wireless communications for emergency purposes and maybe a wheeled Buckminster Fuller "black box" for heavier camping gear and the trail could have a lot of appeal. Guiness Book of Records keeps track of people who have hiked all around the planet. With a trail like this though we could have a Nomadic City with millions on it at any time. Could do a lot for international peace.