Thanks to Frances Bula for the heads-up. We wish Mr. Kelley all the best as Vancouver continues to grow and change.
Video interview (from June 29, 2016).
City of Vancouver release:
“Gil’s extensive experience in cities like San Francisco and Portland is highly valuable at a time when Vancouver is facing an affordability challenge like never before, and we are thrilled to have him join our team at City Hall,” said Mayor Robertson.
Today, the City is announcing that Gil Kelley will serve as Vancouver’s new chief planner and general manager of the newly-created department of Planning, Urban Design, and Sustainability.
Gil has been appointed by City Council to fulfill statutory responsibilities of the director of planning under the Vancouver Charter and will lead the City’s work on all city planning visioning, policy, urban design, and major development negotiations. He will be a voting member of the Development Permit Board and a member of the Corporate Management Team.
The newly created department of Planning, Urban Design, and Sustainability will also have our Sustainability Group integrated within its mandate, which will support the effective implementation of our Greenest City Action Plan, Renewable City Strategy, and green building initiatives.
With Sadhu Johnston, this could be a new take on the dynamic duo.
I am very happy to see the words “urban design” in the job title. Planning and architecture are too broad and narrow respectively to fulfill all the tasks of city building, but urban design will bridge them. I hope to see new treatments for our mundane street network, among other things.
Hopefully experience with the TransBay Terminal will contribute positively to the development of the Waterfront Station Transit Hub and its surrounding office towers.
Note that adjacent to the TransBay Terminal is San Fransisco’s future tallest building – the 1070 ft tall Salesforce Tower:
http://ebsconsultants.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/salesforce-tower-renderings-1024×562.jpg
http://ebsconsultants.com/portfolio/salesforce-tower-leed-cs-platinum/
Maybe, and the recent citizen-led movement to severely restrict building height on the SF waterfront should be an even better lesson as well.
Well, he was born Cascadian and has predominantly worked within Cascadia , so that context helps. But, he’s almost entirely been a staffer, which means he does not feel union-dominated bureaucracies cramp his style. Until he soons discovers that in Vancouver, the planning clerks have running the show for the last 2 years.
Most of his focus will be on budgets and personnel; numbers & egos. Design decisions have been delegated; some to senior unionized staff, some to neighborhoods.
Seeing this video, I’m very impressed with this guy and his ability to express relevant and deep thoughts about the future of cities. His experience in similarly challenged West Coast cities should serve Vancouver very well.
Well worth a look and listen.