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Ottawans Make Case Against Density

Posted by: Tim Halbur

2 June 2008 - 12:00pm

Dimitri Roussopoulos of Urban Ecology and Capital Councillor Clive Doucet make the case that city planning in Ottawa ignores the smart growth plan in place, is driven by economics, and is not in the best interest of communities.

"Ottawa residents who want to protect neighbourhoods from over-scaled and ugly development must roll up their sleeves and get involved in the political and planning process, says a longtime Montreal urban activist.

"Do not think that it is the city-employed planners who are going to negotiate with the developers a development project in the public interest," says Dimitri Roussopoulos, founder and CEO of Urban Ecology, a think-tank on sustainable urban development.

"A lot of what happens in neighbourhoods and cities is driven by very influential and powerful economic interests," he told a public meeting on intensification at City Hall last week.

"If the citizenry of the City of Ottawa is not organized to survey and to watchdog the urban planning process ... you are screwed.""

Full Story: Economics often drives city planning, expert warns
Source: The Ottawa Citizen, June 2, 2008
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Short of erasing existing political and jurisdictional boundaries, citizens and officials need to develop the capacity to work across boundaries according to the "problem-sheds" of the land and water issues we face in the 21st century.
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