Vancouver, British Columbia

I'm attending the World Urban Forum in Vancouver, British Columbia. There are over 10,000 delegates from throughout the world attending this conference. We got to hear from the Canadian Prime Minister yesterday and he spoke about how Canada was dealing with a lot of the problems that face us in the United States. The forum is being sponsored by the UN-Habitat and although it is somewhat daunting to put your arms around the vast issues that many countries face. The diversity at this conference is really interesting. Colorful Africian dresses and virtually every race and culture are represented.

I attended a session on social inclusion which is a complimentary concept to the Inclusive Communities agenda. It is funny how the issues of developing countries are so similar to local problems in the United States. One quote that came out of this session was, "between us and democracy is the Bureaucracy".

Another theme that I picked up was the concept that cities are a living organism and follows the idea of growth, decay and regrowth. This hit me as something that we so often overlook. Cities need to regenerate to adapt to changing conditions. We sometimes forget this and lament the fact that this is part of the life of cities. No city in history has ever remained the same. They grow, they shrink, they thrive and they suffer.

Vancouver is a beautiful city and is one that is very diverse. Asians make up around 35 percent of the population. The city has a large amount of housing in the downtown and Mayor Sam Sullivan said that the use of cars is declining and they are on the path to being more eco friendly. Mayor Sullivan is an interesting fellow and someone who is very inspiring. He is a parapaligic, the result of a diving accident when he was 19. He is truly someone who has excelled in spite of his disability. He is an inventor and has done some great work in helping others who are disabled, excell in sailing and other ways. I feel privlidged to know Mayor Sullivan and am inspired by his positive attitude.

I did get to walk around Stanley Park in Vancouver and it is one of the nicest public parks in the world. It is massive and has a lot of activities throughout the park for young and old.

I leave at 4:30AM tomorrow for Pittsburgh for a speech on Thursday and then on to Colorado.

Never a dull day on the NLC trail.