Posts Tagged ‘politics’

Vancouverism

Sunday, June 29th, 2008

Vancouver condos

I noticed this screen captured by Joe Clark on his photostream. The show at Canada House seemed to have a rather odd goal: the glorification of the West End of Vancouver. Vancouverism.

The word first entered the argot of American architects and city planners over the past decade, who began speaking of “Vancouverizing” their under-populated, un-loved urban cores, seeking inspiration from Canada’s Pacific portal’s re-development successes.

It’s an odd thing for other cities to aspire to be. A ghost-town of glass towers located just steps away from the nation’s poorest community. Condominiums priced beyond the reach of the city’s residents. Empty buildings that have an estimated 18,000 units that aren’t being rented out while speculators wait.

Then, I saw who sponsored the show: the architects featured in the show and property developers. So, it made more sense after all.