Breaking Up Is Hard To Do

In 1967 Montreal hosted the World Expo in a massive 100-year old birthday party for Canada. Festivities were grand and the future seemed bright, but a slow decline had already set in. The Montreal Olympics of 1976 were also not enough to offset the forces of Quebec separatism. From a full third of Canada’s population in 1951 to less than one-quarter in 2011, Quebec’s separatist aspirations have had an economic cost on the Province, especially on the city of Montreal. Montreal is certainly still a great city, but the odds of it ever again becoming Canada’s financial center or largest city are remote, especially after last month’s election victory by the Quebec Sovereigntist party.

A Crystal Clear Business Case for Cities

The next time you’re in London be sure to visit the new Siemens Crystal. The Crystal opened to fanfare and urban guru accolades a couple weeks ago. The 30 million pound, 6000 square meters building is on the east bank of the Thames (a short walk from the Royal Victoria DLR stop). The building is divided into two parts, an exhibition and meeting place on cities and headquarters for up to 100 London-based Siemens staff working in the urban sector and external cities experts. Siemens has plans to build similar, albeit smaller, competence centers for cities in Washington, DC and Shanghai.

When wandering through the majestic building, one might wonder why Siemens would spend so much money on what is arguably mostly a public meeting place on cities. Similar to any successful company, Siemens is driven by profits. Making a business case for public education is likely not always easy, even if your company would benefit more than most from a better informed public. But a well-informed public asks many questions, some which might be uncomfortable.

Boys and their Toys – Building Better Cities

Caution – this blog is almost as long as the soon-to-be commissioned Niagara Tunnel.

Often I can hide it – posing maybe as an economist, risk manager, a finance-guy, public-policy wonk; I’ve even once been complimented as an urban planner. But every now and then I revert to form and it slips out that I’m an engineer. This week was a classic – a ‘boy and his toys,’ my wife warned.

I went to Niagara Falls not to see the falls, or visit the casino, but to tour Ontario Power Generation’s (OPG) Niagara Tunnel and Adam Beck Hydroelectric Power Station! Well worth a ‘!’ as getting to visit these two big civil engineering works was a bit like Christmas coming early; and they provide important lessons.

The trip was particularly poignant for me for two reasons. First getting to see these huge – and hugely important – pieces of urban infrastructure up close is an amazing opportunity. These projects make up the bones and plumbing of corpus urbanus. Second, these two massive civil works underpin Niagara Falls. It’s a location that is likely the best place in the world to see sustainable development in action – the good, the bad, the historic, and increasingly the hopeful.