The dean of the environmental design faculty (EVDS), Nancy Pollock-Ellwand is meeting with a state parliamentary committee from Australia today.
The Outer Suburban/Interface Services and Development Committee (OSISDC) from the Parliament of Victoria in Melbourne, is on an international study tour to learn more about sustainable urban design as it conducts an inquiry into the liveability and growth of Melbourne's outer suburbs.
The committee, which was established in 2003, is meeting with EVDS to discuss research in sustainable urban design, particularly in the context of Calgary and other Canadian cities, and improving the management of water resources through urban design. They will also discuss key EVDS initiatives including makeCalgary and Team Canada's 2011 entry into the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon.
“It is a great honour to be asked to present to this Parliamentary Delegation from the State of Victoria, Australia, along with Calgary’s mayor and manager, and the provincial assistant deputy minister of infrastructure,” says Pollock-Ellwand. “It indicates the shared challenges we have with other centres in the world around rapid urbanization, sprawling suburbs and the creation of viable community development on the periphery of our cities.”
The City of Melbourne is the capital of the State of Victoria, and with about four million people, the second most populous city in Australia. Between 1999 and 2009, Melbourne experienced the largest population growth of all Australian capital cities and added more people to its population than any other city or region in Australia in the five years to June 2009.
Much of this population moved to new outer suburbs, which now form part of Melbourne’s greater metropolitan area. The population of Melbourne could exceed 5 million by 2026 and reach nearly 8 million by 2056.
Melbourne is renowned for its liveability and was ranked as the world's most liveable city in the World's Most Liveable Cities ratings by the Economist Group's Intelligence Unit in 2011. Calgary placed fifth. There is a much for these two cities to learn from each other.
In 2010 the faculty established a semester-long study abroad program to Australia. The program partnered with RMIT University and the City of Melbourne in 2011 enabling students to participate in a design-build project with the regional aboriginal population.
Article by Jessica Wallace. Images courtesy of John Brown.