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Dec. 2, 2005
Beauty of Vancouver
Dream City examines city’s history and its future.
CYNTHIA RAMSAY
Have you ever sat in your car during rush hour wondering who designed
Vancouver’s road system? Have you ever mused with a friend
about how much development has taken place around False Creek in
the last decade or so? Do you know anyone who would like to know
more about Vancouver, a city considered by many as one of the best
places to live in the world? If so, then Lance Berelowitz’s
Dream City: Vancouver and the Global Imagination is a must-buy.
In Dream City (Douglas & McIntyre), Berelowitz –
who arrived in Vancouver from London, England, in 1985 – explores
the links between his adoptive city’s impressive natural setting,
its fascinating history of speculative development and its emerging
culture of planning and design. He does so with clarity, precision,
humor and an obvious love of Vancouver. But he doesn’t let
his bias keep him from telling readers about the city’s downsides:
pollution levels in False Creek and the lack of an interesting skyline,
for example. He also manages to include such facts as the controversy
surrounding the imminent RAV (Richmond-Vancouver-Airport) transportation
line in a non-confrontational manner.
Berelowitz covers pretty much all anyone would want to know about
Vancouver, including the geographic and climatic issues that influence
the ways in which the city has and will develop. The chapter entitled
“The Domestic Tradition: The Search for an Indigenous Architecture”
is particularly absorbing and one of the book’s final chapters,
which compares Vancouver and Los Angeles, is especially entertaining.
The only real shortcoming of this publication is that a few color
photos would have been nice – it’s hard to appreciate
the beauty of the cherry blossoms in a black and white picture.
Berelowitz is founder and principal of Urban Forum Associates Planning
and Urban Design. He is an award-winning writer and commentator
on urban planning who has written extensively about Vancouver and
has presented papers on the city at national and international conferences.
He was editor-in-chief of Vancouver’s successful 2010 Olympic
Winter Games Bid Book submission to the International Olympic
Committee.
Dream City won this year’s City of Vancouver Book Award,
a $2,000 prize that has been presented annually since 1989 to authors
of books in any genre that demonstrate excellence and contribute
to the appreciation and understanding of Vancouver’s history,
unique character or the achievements of its residents. The winning
book must also exhibit excellence in content, illustration, design
and/or format. Deputy Mayor Ellen Woodsworth presented the award
and cash prize to Berelowitz at City Hall on Oct. 18.
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