Building a Great City
Houston, TX, Saturday, November 17, 2007
By Peter Brown
Great cities don’t just happen – they are made, by the firm hand of enlightened leadership, a results-driven agenda, and a dose of good fortune. Today, “globalization” has raised the bar even higher in the competition among cities. A compelling vision and effective planning invariably play a critical role in the transformation of the world’s great cities. In spite of our familiar challenges, from gridlock and crime, to air pollution and flooding, Houston’s enormous potential is without question - like a sleeping giant, we are poised on the threshold of an extraordinary urban transformation. We are experiencing the “re-urbanization” of the American city.
Citizens understand this, and they expect more, not more of the same. Their specific aspirations have been eloquently documented by Dr. Stephen Klineberg in his seminal “Houston Area Surveys.” It is now for our leadership to listen to the people, and to lead. Klineberg sees a decided disconnect between what the community wants and what the political process is delivering. Consequently, we face a crowded agenda, intensified by the complex, competitive world we live in.
Crime prevention, vastly improved public education and health care, and safe streets are high priorities. The people want better regulations to protect our neighborhoods and property values, more planning (including a community-driven, “bottom-up” Houston General Plan), and a quantum leap forward on flood control, more green space, clean air, mobility, and expanded rail transit.
The most significant impact of globalization has been a new emphasis on “quality of place” - walkable, visually exciting, diverse, urban places, with parks and civic plazas, where human experiences are energized by the inspired character of the built environment. This is what will attract information-age businesses and talent from around the world to choose Houston, and make us a great city.
Epilogue
What about the future? Dr. Klineberg’s exciting narrative, describing the collective attitudes and expectations of our diverse community, confirms that “business-as-usual” will not suffice – that we need a new action agenda to realize Houston’s enormous potential. There is no “invisible hand” at work to assure our future success.
What then are the next steps? First, we must build on our best traditions of civic leadership, “can-do” entrepreneurship, public-private partnerships, and visionary public works projects like the Ship Channel and our new Light Rail Transit system. Next, let’s enact and enforce higher standards to protect our neighborhoods, encourage quality development in the right places, reduce flooding, clean the air, and control blight. Higher standards will further energize Houston’s economy. Perhaps the greatest challenge is to vastly improve public education and community health, as we address pervasive poverty. This will require a new level of thinking, and an unprecedented combined initiative of government, our major institutions, and the business community.
Finally, a modern city cannot grow and change successfully without benefit of a citizen-based plan, to coordinate the many parts of this “civic agenda for Houston’s future.” Two years on City Council have convinced me that without such a plan, and associated goals, policies, priorities, and programs, the city will be increasingly difficult to manage.
These are exciting times of change. Our vision has emerged. The economy is strong. Let’s cross the threshold - involve the entire community –determined to plan and build a great city of the “global” 21st century.
Peter Brown, Houston City Council Member, At-Large Position One; Architect and Urban Planner November 22, 2007 (revised)