Two weeks ago, Mack and I took one of the City of Edmonton’s Planning Academy courses. A series of learning opportunities offered by the city so citizens can be better informed on the subject of planning and development in Edmonton, courses are offered at least once a year on subjects such as land use planning, urban design, and transportation.

I was most interested in the course titled “Getting a Grip on Land Use Planning”, as I was hoping it would answer my questions on why some areas of the city are more pedestrian-friendly than others.

The makeup of students that day was quite diverse – from city employees to design and engineering professionals, to an articling law student and Alberta Employment and Immigration manager at our table, it was nice to see a cross-section of city residents. I did wonder, however, if bursaries were available to the low-income, as while $35 isn’t an unreasonable fee, it might make the course out of reach for some.

The best parts of the course were the concrete examples the two speakers were able to provide based on their experience. And while the material covered didn’t fully answer my questions, I do have a better appreciation for the planning department – what seemed to me before was an absence of thought in planning, but really, quite a bit of work goes into the design of neighbourhoods.

I was also intrigued to find out about some planning regulations in effect – for example, new neighbourhoods must have 10% of land dedicated to park areas, pubs are required to have 1 parking spot per 3.6 square metres of space and downtown  (as specified by the Area Redevelopment Plan), developers are mandated for just 1 parking stall per 100 square meters.

The planners of the course tried to incorporate hands-on learning throughout the day, and while well-intentioned for small group discussions, I thought they were a waste of time. Perhaps I have a lack of foresight, but the exercises of designing a secondary garage suite and rezoning of a hospital building were not practical or necessary for a layperson.

I am eyeing the Transportation Elective taking place in the spring – perhaps it will shed some insight on Edmonton’s car culture.