The Global City: Rollin Stanley
The Global City: Rollin Stanley
By Thalia Kingsford
Bill Andrew introduced our speaker, Rollin Stanley. Rollin is the City of Calgary's general manager of planning and development.
Originally from northern Ontario, he graduated from Ryerson University and has spent much of his career as a planner in Toronto.
Originally from northern Ontario, he graduated from Ryerson University and has spent much of his career as a planner in Toronto.
After helping to transform the inner city industrial area into the Entertainment District, he moved to St. Louis to lead the planning there in rebuilding their inner city that was plagued with poverty, crime and vacant buildings. By emphasizing the concept of historical preservation, he found the way to turn previously abandoned factories into great investments.
In 2008, he took on a different challenge. He became planning director for Montgomery County, adjacent to Washington D.C. and became "the brash bad boy of Washington regional planning".
Rollin Stanley is an outspoken agitator for urban densification.
The growth of cities and the migration of people to the urban centres is "the single largest influence on nation building". The world's population is expected to grow by 72% in the next 30 years and urbanized land will grow by 175%. By 2050, 75% of the world's estimated 9 billion people will live in cities.
This will be the trend of global migrations. A large percentage will be in developing countries. The ratio of working age adults to seniors will radically shift as well.
In 2011, there was a ratio of 6.1 workers to seniors. By 2039, that will shift to 2.7. This means we will need more young people, women and minorities or immigrants to build our workforce.
Empowering change, these groups are 30% more likely to start small business, require rented space and access to credit. Innovation will drive change and a redirection of the use of space.
In the US, 514,000 jobs are created or supported by Apple. These people cluster around transit hubs, research institutions and city centres.
Calgary has historically grown out from its edges. This is now starting to shift as the long range growth plan aims for a "compact city".
We will see balance between the city's fringes and the developed areas. The plan is to shift one-third of the new growth into existing neighborhoods by 2039.
Rollin Stanley is tasked with developing this plan while the unprecedented growth of our city is straining the city's budget and services. Our municipal debt is approaching $4 billion.
"As a fast growing city, capturing the true cost of growth is now critical".
Madeline King thanked him for his vision with the traditional gift of a donation to CAWST.
Our speaker, Rollin Stanley