Plangineering By Dale Bracewell, Mobility Foresight
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Urban planners and engineers do essential work
As my career progressed and I became closer
as we try to create the best possible future for
with a few of the fantastic planners at the City, I
city residents, visitors, and businesses. How can
took the opportunity to co-teach a course with
the two disciplines work better together and lean
Michael at Simon Fraser University to share the
on each other’s strategic mindsets, respective
knowledge, experience, and benefits of engineers
talents, and diverse viewpoints to create healthy,
and planners collaborating. I am very thankful for
liveable, and sustainable communities? This
my partnership with Michael in rolling up our
collaboration between urban planners and
sleeves to co-create content for an SFU City
engineers was the thesis for a course developed
Program course for other professionals we called
by me and my planning colleague Michael
“Engineering for Planners, Planning for
Mortensen, MA MCIP RPP, in 2006.
Engineers” (E4P P4E).
We both worked for the City of Vancouver at the
With our shared objective of painting a positive
time. In this workplace, engineers and planners
view of engineering and planning departments
developed an exemplary practice of collaboration
working together, we structured the course
in redeveloping the downtown core, doubling the
noting key differences in our professions. Then
population on the small peninsula, creating new
we explored how a practitioner can create the
area plans, or renewing many of the twenty-two
right mix of relational and project-oriented
neighbourhoods that make up Vancouver. Michaal
synergies between our distinct work cultures.
and I were connected through the City’s
From the aspiration of creating the Southeast
Leadership Development programs and were both
False Creek neighbourhood to be a model of
exposed to positive examples of engineering
sustainable development (later renamed as the
working closely with planning on many strategic
Olympic Village for the 2010 Winter Games), to
civic priorities. Even as an engineer in training,
integrating industrial and supportive freight
my earliest projects benefited from the input of
forwarding and commercial land uses in the False
senior leadership meetings jointly chaired by the
Creek Flats, to rezoning the Oakridge Centre as a
City Engineer and Director of Transportation
regional town centre and future hub of two rapid
alongside our Co-Directors of Planning. Modelled
transit corridors, Michael and I did our best to
from above, I knew I was in the right environment
bring our City project examples to the classroom
to help advance sustainable mobility for
to demonstrate how interest based problem
Vancouverites with this inherent bias that cities
solving to each other’s professions led to the best
done well are planned and built out through the
version of city building for residents and
blended work of engineers and planners.
businesses.
TRANSPORTATION TALK