There are many things that make sustainable development a success. I think the most important thing is public consultation or community engagement. Community engagement is important because it is a way to find out the real issues and wants within a community. To involve the community before planning the development will ensure a more integrated approach that will be accepted by more of the public than just developing for the sake of developing. This process can also be preceded by community profiling to first research that will be or is living in the area to become developed. Active listening by the facilitator can ensure that all is understood and addressed by the public. Like anyone, if they feel like they are being heard and their opinions or concerns will be addressed then it will make them confident in the development. Not only is the public important to consult but also the collaboration of different stakeholders that are involved in the development. These can be inclusive to all, as well as the ownership of the land.
The new development of in the Dockside Green area in downtown Victoria is to include sustainable building methods. I think it is great that Victoria is trying to include sustainable building methods into Victoria, especially in the downtown area and in the Vic West region, which is in some need for improvement. With more development downtown there will be increased use of the downtown core and hopefully more initiatives to address some of the problems with downtown, such as homelessness. One thing that is unfortunate about the Dockside Green development is that it only caters to high income earners. Even though they are supposed to include low income housing, I am not convinced about what their definition of low income housing is. But all the same with these types of developments going in there will be more incentive to follow suit in the surrounding area.
Picture Reference: http://www.greenplaybook.org/database/images/display/sb4720d928d50d3.jpg
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