Habitat Guide No 3
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� ,. J, United Nations . This is the official, international symbol related. Ecology, economics, politics for HABIT AT: TheHABITAT United Nations Con and culture, all live under the s-ame roof. ference on Human Settletnents. For two The inter-connectedness of all things is weeks, representatives of the nations of an underlying principle of nature, if the world will convene in downtown only we can grasp this fundamental law. Vancouver for an intense information Governments are coming to Vancouver exchange. We, the people of this earth, not just to talk. They are bringing films are multiplying at a rate that most of us of solutions that are working in each of cannot comprehend. Our cities are their own native lands, films made already bursting at the seams, as more especially fo'r Habitat. The largest and more people seeking a better way of undertaking of its kind in history, life stream into urban settlements on perhaps this HABITAT is shaping up as every continent. How do we cope with the first global communications event in exploding cities? How do we settle the a new era of world affairs. future? The problems are all inter- --Editorial SIGN or OUB. TIMBS. On May 31st, 1976, the first specialworld conference in the history of North America begins. It is called HABITAT: THE UNITED NATIONS CQNFERENCE ON HUMAN SETTLEMENTS and it takes place in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia. Canada is the off_icial host for HABITAT, and our federal government has created a unique symbol to represent the problems without words, so that it speaks out in every language. HABITAT GUIDE ,, .. LETTER FROM NEW YORK.. UNITED NATIONS • NATIONS UNIES POSfAL AODJltS:SS-AOMESSC "'011TALC UN'ITltO NATIONS. {'t.Y \0017 CAILC. A.ODIIS:S5--ADllllCSSC TCL.&:CIIAPI-IIQUC UN... llONS NllWYo,ut 7 April 1976 communications To the Citizens of Vancouver, EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS There is now great reason to believe that & Habitat: The United Nations Canference on Human PUBLISHERS Settlements will be the largest conference ever held under'the auspices of the United Nations. Moreover, I believe that it will succeed not just because of size but purpose as well. The problems James T. Cooper of human settlements are better understood than DESIGN ever before, and perhaps understood in their true sense for the first time by the international Howard ElliotArfin eomrnunity. Our purpose will be to write EDITORIAL recommendations for an impravernent in the quality of life for all people of the world. We will do that, and I am sure that governments will listen. STAFF FOR I know from personal experience the THIS ISSUE generosity of all the Canadian people and I am sure that your city will prove again your national friendship towards strangers. Gloria Williams Dalton McCarthy For whatever inconvenience, I ask your tolerance. And I hope that I will meet many o� Colin Stuart you during our stay. Neil McNeil! John Rowell Barbara J . Wutzke y, MEDIA CONSULTANT & PRODUCTION' ASSISTANCE HABITAT GUIDE is published ill Vancouver by HomeTown Communications. The GUIDE is a private, commercial publication that endeavoun to bring human settlement concerm into che homea of our readers. HABITAT GUIDE malcea no claims to repreaent any person or group responsible for or involved with Habitat: The United Natiom Conference on Human Settlements. For advertisingrates, circulation and distn1>ution information, wri1e to HomeTown Communicationa, Benlal.lBox "8610, Vancouver, B.C., Canada. All creative ideu, auggeationa for improvement, photos, drawiDga, topics for d;,cuasion, e� .• are encouraged, c/o the above address. Real progressis measured by the acquitement of a basic standard of life for all people everywhere. Every living ,human being must have a secure personal habitat. United Nations headquarters, New York Enrique Penalosa, of Columbia, South America, United Nations Secretary-General forHABITAT. 4 HABIT AT GUIDE CONTENTS Canada's invitation to host the first conference on human settlements has f>rought the nations of the world. together to take a good look at a messy house. 6 Dalton McCarthy reviews the official preparatory • papers leading up to the big event itself. ESTABLISHING f.iARMONYBETWEEN If you don't represent a King, a President or a THE MAN-MADE AND Prime Minister, then in official circles you're THE NATURAL considered an "NGO". Non-Governmental ENVIRONMEN"Ji. Organizations will meet in Vancouver at the same time as the U.N., for a parallel conference called HABITAT FORUM. 9. From serendipity to serious sun-powered THROUGH SOUND solutions, 'Appropriate Technology' ENVIRONMENTAL means cheap, long-lasting and conser PLANNING,MAN vative. Today's toy may well be tomor HAS THECAPACITY row's tool, and the exhibition is set for TO DESIGN HUMAN SE'ITLEMENTS Habitat Forum. INHARMONY WITH NATURE, The community channel that is available WHILESTIMULATING to cable TV subscribers has been. a AN ADEQUATE STANDARD OF LIVING 'sleeper' for years all across Canada. � FOR ALl, INHABITANTS. Vancouver is reknown as the most wired z • city in the world for cable TV, and some THETECHNOLOGY local folks are getting on the tube to ask, IS AVAILABLE NOW. "Hello, Are You There?" WHAT IS REQUIRED IS THE INTELLIGENT ALLOCATION OF RESOURCES BASED ON Credit goes to the first special world confer A COMMITMENT TO ence in the history of North America for THE FUTURE. causing a 9reat Canadian cultural break throu9h. It s called FESTIVAL HABITAT xs. and it s happening in VANCOUVER. We're living in Education City as conference time draws near. There are now plenty of 1�!�Environmental Sciences.... opportunities to make the most of this once in-a-historytime event. B. R. Hinton & Associates Limited PROGRAM PREVIEWS describes a few. Vancouver, B.C., Canada V6E 3H4 HABITAT GUIDE ;) The final major PrepCom (Prepara LandPolicy is the most serious and tory Conference)took place at the U.N. hotly-debated issue common to both headquarters at New York this past the Third Werld and to industrialized HABITAT: January, '76. At this last big get nations. Allover the world, people are together before Habitat itself, _ all moving to the cities. This ruralmigra This is not a conference on housing. nations reviewed: tion is overloading the cities which This will be the first world confer --the develeping recommendations for then have to expand onto prime agri ence at which the organization of actionat nationallevels cultural land. human society as a whole--in cities, --the preparations for intematienal Planners !31'8 saying that this towns, villages, everywhere that co-operation massive populatian shift is making it people live--willbe considered. --the rules of procedure for discussion impossible to plan facilities such as Representatives from 142 countries and debate at Vancouver transportation and housing with any decent quality. The changes are too will meetin Vancouver. --the special arrangements for the Previous world conferences on envi fast and too overw.\lelming to cope unique audio-visual aspect of Habi ronment, on food, on population, all tat with. were too narrow, too specialized. This conference promises to take the big The majority of the countries at the TEHERANPREPARATIONS look, the view that will include social, regional preparatory conferences are· economic and political aspectsof plan known collectively as the THIRD As a practical answel' to the pro ning the future of thisworld. WORLD, and they have many common blemsa£ land speculation, the Teheran he· Search for Solulioris Millions ofdollars are beingspent to problemsthat separate them from the Conference recommended that land focus on Planet Earth during the two richer, industrialized Europe and within urban and suburban areas be weeks in Vancouver. What are we NorthAmerica. the subject of the govemmen� C9n gettingfor the money and how can we Some observers feel that Habitat cemed. use the information that will come out? will have to deal primarily with 'Third Land control will obviously be dis This article attempts to simplify the World needsif this Conference is to be cussedas a politicalissue and willvary mountains of paperthat are leading up a success. according to the politics of each to the big show. Thepreparations have separate nation. been documented and made available ·Amongst the concerns held in to anyone who is prepared to sort common at the regional conferences Delegates at the Teheran Confer through two ofyea.r.s planning all over was that the Vancouver Conference ence recommended horizontal rather the world. sheuld encourage policies that deal than vertical. construction, wherever To begin, in the preparation for with the distribution of land and with possible, so that population congestion Habitat, the world was sectioned off systems of registering real estate. can be reduced--0nly if s�ch horizontal into major regions, and then prepar atory U.N. conferences were held; Gathering around the major metropolises, slap-dash, disease-ridden • Asiaand the Pacific shantytowns bring little better than what was left behind. The people in this (Teheran, 14-19 June,1975) picture live in modest luxury, for there are some who can mana� no better than • Africa abandoned concrete culverts, while others--in the thousands upon thousands-- (Cairo, 21-26 June, 1975) will sleep in the streettonight. • LatinAmerica (Caracas 30 June - 4 July, 1975) • Europe & North America (Geneva, September, 1975) As apermanent member of the U.N. Security Council, the United States delegation was present at all regional conferences. Also, because of our special status as the host country, Canada has also been in attendance at all the above locations. The world population will double during the next 30 years, adding 3.5 billion more people. That is the equivalentof building 3,500 entirely new cities of a million persons each. 6 THECAIRO TALKS The Caire Conference stated the following objectives for the Habitat Conference: "There is a widespread agreement thatproblems of uncontrolledpopula- , tion growth, rural stagnatien, migra tion, the inability ofurban centres to cope with present rates ofpopulation increase, and environmental detior ation demandcorrective action at both the national�d international levels.