• David Gordon - Opening Presentation
  • Main Points
  • Technological Change
  • Things to Avoid in Development Projects
  • Advantages of Waterfront Development
  • Lessons for Start-up Politics
  • Lessons for Financial Management
  • Managing Political Change
  • Good Example

David Gordon - Opening Presentation

Main Points

Waterfront development in downtown areas is worldwide due to technological change

Implementation is more important than plannig and design

The right financial strategy is more important than just obtaining lots of money for the project

Technological Change

London in the early 1800's made loading and unloading more efficient with enclosed docks, such as the original Canary Wharf

The introduction of steamships in the early-mid 19th century brought finger pier terminals and the Port Authority concept

Finally, containerization starting in the 1960's meant ships could be unloaded up to 40 times faster onto large areas of asphalt next to railway lines.Ports like Boston and San Francisco lost all their traffic within about 5 years.

Things to Avoid in Development Projects

Don’t be in a hurry. You need 5-10 years just to sort out the situation and start any construction

Don’t expect quick or high financial returns

You cannot solve unemployment problems. You cannot redevelop other industrial uses and give jobs to the same people that were put out of work on the waterfront

Beware of dirty sites. It is financially unreasonable to clean up environmental problems with sites. Get these cleaned up by another agency before accepting them for redevelopment.

Advantages of Waterfront Development

Expand downtown. Example is expansion to Toronto railyards so as not to destroy viable residential neighbourhoods surrounding downtown. Another example is Battery Park City in New York.

Provides parks and public access. Example is Christopher Columbus Waterfront Park and New England Aquarium near Fanueil Hall complex in Boston.

Provides new housing. Examples are London Docklands, large affordable housing project in Toronto, social housing in Vancouver’s False Creek area.

Symbolic transformation. Can provided a new image for the city. Example is Baltimore’s Inner Harbour, which has reinvigorated downtown to the point where new baseball stadium (Camden Yards) has been developed there.

Lessons for Start-up Politics

Need a local process underway. Example of bad process is New York State Governor (Nelson Rockefeller) imposing Battery Park City site on New York City Mayor (John Lindsay) in mid-1960's, resulting in 10-year delay on project. Another example is public resistance to Canary Wharf project in London.

Need an independent agency. Agency leadership must be entrepreneurial, consensus-building, be sensitive to local values and have design sensitivity.

Get powers early.

Lessons for Financial Management

Site preparation costs will be $200,000-500,000 per acre

Will need medium term bridge financing

Consider issuing revenue bonds

Private sector revenue starts slowly, over 6-10 years

Local market cycles need to be taken into account

Several small developers may be less risky than a single large developer

Manage the changing financial environment: select developer rapidly, save some projects for a recession, don’t get greedy in booms, think of leasing not selling land

Managing Political Change

Manage your boss

Have a well-connected board

Have strong local links

Plan for residents

Seek public benefits and joint gains with developers

Serve wider community

Good Example

Battery Park City on Manhattan Island is example of well-run waterfront. After an initial bad plan involving a giant megastructure, progress was stopped for 10 years. The project was reborn in 1978 with a new plan that received City and State agreement and has provided great public spaces.

Atlantic Planners Institute

This page and all contents are produced by the Atlantic Planners Institute, an affiliate of the Canadian Institute of Planners.