A panel of historians, critics and professionals highlighted some of this century’s unrealized dreams, fantastic follies and some rather perplexing proposals for the Capital Region. The lecture provided a scholarly look back at where we have come from, and some wisdom for where we are now heading.
David Gordon, Queen’s University School of Urban & Regional Planning, discussed some of the great plans for the Capital including the Bennett/Holt Plan of 1915 and the Greber Plan of 1950.
Phil Jenkins, journalist and author of An Acre of Time, examined how the pursuit of new urban visions completely changed LeBreton Flats landscape, with a focus on the grand plans of the 1960s and 1970s, and on the character of the community plowed under in anticipation.
Barry Wellar, University of Ottawa School of Geography, took us back to the planning and engineering of the “modern city” during the 1960s and 1970s, drawing out some ideas that have been lost and identifying others that we might wish away.