The Universal Solution
An interview with Aprodicio Laquian
By Mark Hume
Globe and Mail Update
To solve the problems plaguing the Downtown Eastside, human settlement expert Aprodicio Laquian is advocating a plan that explores successful development models in the city, the region and the world.
Aprodicio Laquian is an emeritus professor of human settlement at the University of British Columbia, and author of Beyond Metropolis, a book exploring ways to improve the lives of slum-dwellers in mega-cities such as Mumbai and Manila. He moved to Vancouver from New York in 1991.
When was the first time you saw the Downtown Eastside? What surprised you?
I first saw the Downtown Eastside in 1976 during the first United Nations Conference on Human Settlements – Habitat I. I was accompanying a delegation of leaders of squatter and slum-dweller organizations from Manila and they asked me to show them a Canadian low-income area. I was not surprised at what I saw in the Downtown Eastside. Still, I could not help but wonder how a beautiful and affluent city like Vancouver could allow a place like the Downtown Eastside to deteriorate when there are so many successful models of inner-city redevelopment that Vancouver city authorities could emulate.