13 October 2016
Earlier than most cities, Vancouver’s councillors and community groups asked what gives quality of life to living in a city. Vancouver saw the damage to health and wellbeing that pollution causes, and in 2010 it set itself the ambitious target of making 50% of the trips to the city take place by foot, bike and public transport by 2020. It achieved it in four years. At the same time, the city set itself the challenge of cutting the distance driven by each resident to 20% below 2007 levels. The plan was to manage that by 2020, but that took four years too.
It took courage and imagination by Vancouver’s local government, business and residents to picture the city they wanted, but their Greenest City Plan provided benefits at every stage for life in the city. In 2014, the year it reached its sustainable transport targets, Vancouver was voted Best City in North America for Quality of Life. Business thrived, people wanted to visit and Vancouver residents were able to enjoy a home that was getting better every day.
Bath definitely has a lot of the ingredients for quality of life – beautiful buildings, plenty of open green spaces, nearby countryside, a thriving and walkable city centre, the list goes on. But air quality affects health on a daily basis in the city. The things that work attract thousands of visitors to Bath and give the city an international profile. It just needs a little vision to make it what it could be… a city that works for people, that makes city living a joy, and that acts a model for the rest of the world.
Tim Stoneman
Green Party Member
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