A tale of two cities
My posts so far have covered little about architecture and urban planning, even though I have a spectator's interest in the area, and consider it an important part of the culture anywhere.
In this regard, I consider Toronto (and the GTA) to have the potential to become a truly world class city. No, I do not think we are there yet - the waterfront is a mess, the transit system notably in suburbs and outer municipalities is inadequate, and work on anything is painfully slow.
The Star has a recent letter to the editor that caught my attention, by a disgruntled Torontonian comparing Toronto with Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. I reproduce it here in its entirety.
Abu Dhabi's plans leave us in the dust
Nasty battle over docklands
Oct. 23.
I read the above article and I am amazed how this city never seems to be able to get its act together over the waterfront.
I just came back from Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and what they are doing there makes us look sick. All our developers and architects seem to be able to come up with are bad imitations of the International Style, tired old Post Modern and cheap knockoffs of Manhattan skyscrapers.
They would do well to look at some of the skyscrapers and other projects going up in those two UAE cities, and the efforts being made to develop their waterfronts. Not all of the design is good, but at least the developers there are showing some imagination.
We can't even figure out who's going to do the work. We have too many competing interests and little empires being jealously protected by special interest groups.
In Abu Dhabi, for example, architects have been appointed for the project, which will cost close to $8 billion and encompass pedestrian ways, parks, waterways and a mix of residential, commercial and recreational developments.
All is supposed to be completed by 2011.
We can't even get a shovel in the ground.
And we call ourselves world-class?
Bruce Gates, Toronto
My last visit to Abu Dhabi was in February this year for a conference. It is a well-planned and beautiful city, often referred to as the Manhattan of the Middle East. While its neighbour Dubai is racing to wrest that title away, Abu Dhabi (in my opinion) takes the cake in aesthetics and architectural quality. It seeks to maintain a balance between the traditional and the modern, and to ensure new urban developments reflect the UAE's Arab and Islamic cultural and architectural heritage.The waterfront project the letter talks about looks to be truly an urban paradise when completed, and could be something Toronto can take a lesson from. However, while I do despair at the problems with Toronto in getting any decent urban project off the ground, I do not entirely agree with the criticism in the letter. Here's why.
The City of Abu Dhabi, and the City of Toronto and the TWRC are entirely different in the way they function. One is a closed, consolidated public entity backed by the UAE's immense oil revenues. No price tag is too pricey (which is partly why almost any project, no matter how major, can be finished in record time). The other is a cash-strapped body, accountable to shareholders and taxpayers, that has to in large part support itself, and is otherwise jostling for funding from the provincial or federal government.
Nevertheless, Toronto can and should do better. It is a great city that can become even greater once some of its ugly aspects are taken care of.
6 comments:
Ali, The author of that letter completely missed the obvious fact that a comparison between TO and anywhere in the Gulf is meaningless due to the fuloos ($money$) factor. Government coffers over there are seemingly overflowing and are managed very differently from a democratic Toronto. Not to mention the challenges of 'modernising' cities that have a 100+ years of development & existing private enterprises with naturally conflicting interests. Chicago and Toronto would be a better comparison.
I think it's pointless to be putting any Western city up to the standards bing set in the Gulf. Totally different economies, governments, societies, traditions etc. Comparison for the sake of comparison is fine, but not for passing judgement on the leadership or citizens of either, which the author does.
On a side note, I do shake my head at the vast sums of money being 'invested' in physical infrastructure in the Gulf, especially on the luxury end. 'Invested' might be being too generous. World's tallest building? Come on. This is getting ridiculous.
Ali, I agree with Tanveer on this. We're comparing apples and oranges (or should I saw apples and dates). I'm sure that Abu Dhabi was nothing but pure white sand a few decades ago. If you thrown enough money at a project like that with little outside influence from lobby groups you're bound to have stunning results. Thanks for providing the TO Waterfront link. If you follow through on some of the projects you'll see the Port Union Waterfront Improvement Project. I live very close by so I can't wait to see it completed. I used to think there was no hope for the Toronto Waterfront, now I realize we just need to be a little more patient.
Omar - Jazaaks for the education. I knew my name was rooted in the Arabic word noor (light), but now I know the details. Now I just have to figure out how to use it in my resume. 'Tanveer the Enlightener' maybe?
Bilal, you're right about Abu Dhabi being little more than a village of white sand and dirt roads (and of course palm trees) not more than forty, fifty years ago.
I think too, Tanveer, that Chicago is a better example to compare Toronto with, and then we can see where Toronto has fallen short. There have been some exciting developments in Chicago recently, including their new waterfront park, that Toronto can take a page from.
We shouldn't forget some very stunning ongoing projects in Toronto. Maybe I'll write up a post on that one of these days.
Although I have yet to visit Abu Dhabi, I feel like I’ve almost been there from all the pictures and stories about its "beauty". That being said, I was at a wedding a few months ago, where a doctor was talking about his stay in Abu Dhabi, he mentioned something that I one day hope to see if it’s true myself. He referred to Abu Dhabi’s beauty as a "fake beauty". He compared it to a women with too much makeup on, strikingly beautiful on first appearance, but the natural essence of her being completely lost behind all the makeup. I wonder if in all this excitement of how wonderful Abu Dhabi is, natural beauty and real culture is lost in a mosaic of "western" beauty of skyscrapers, big shopping malls, and 7 star hotels. Either way, I can’t wait to go shopping there someday… cause that’s what’s important right? -i just hope i'll have enough "fuloos".
Nada, that is a genuine concern. I think that criticism applies more to Dubai than it does to Abu Dhabi, where the beauty of culture, heritage and tradition is fast being lost to huge malls, skyscrapers of all kinds, extravagant theme parks and what not.
Too much makeup - I couldn't have put it better myself.
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