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Expert advisor on urban development delivers key note address in Galway City
A key note address by Charles Landry, who is a leading authority on city revitalisation, cultural planning and strategic policy development, was delivered to over 160 key decision makers and influencers in Galway City on 3rd March in the Town Hall Theatre. Attendees at this event included representatives from the arts community, business sector, Community Forum, statutory organisations, voluntary organisations, architects and property developers. This event was hosted by the City Development Board and organised jointly between the Galway Healthy Cities Forum and Galway Creative Cities Forum.
The key message from Mr. Landry was that planners looking to the future of Galway must be certain of what they want for the city and confident enough to implement a plan that will be unique to the city. He also noted that Galway is big enough to be taken seriously but small enough not to threaten and small enough to do things in a way that bigger places can't do.
Traffic issues were also discussed with Mr. Landry acknowledging this was a major problem for most cities, but one which needed to be tackled. "A combination of policies would have to be introduced if this was to be countered" he explained. "In addition there would be some onus on residents of the city to change their habits and their dependency on the car".
In relation to education Mr. Landry stated that "a big advantage for Galway was its success in hanging on to a good percentage of students who came to study in the city after they had graduated". This, he said ".. could help to make Galway a 'knowledge base' in all sorts of fields and Galway should consider potential areas in which it could become a leading centre of excellence".
Feedback from the event was very positive and the City Development Board has discussed ways to progress and develop the ideas and suggestions further. These will form the basis of the Priority Action Plan 2009 – 2012 for the city. In addition the Healthy Cities Forum will also discuss the main issues at their next meeting.
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