I really should apologise…<\/p>\n
Last night at TEDxLeeds we had some really excellent\u00a0presentations\u00a0including one from IBM’s Rashik Parmar\u00a0on Smarter Cities that included a great little video on the stupidity of food supply logistics…<\/p>\n
[youtube=http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=1DAR5wW19Eg]<\/p>\n
Rashik then went on to talk about how ‘sustainability’ and an era of ‘frugality’ will \u00a0impact on how we might build a smarter city.<\/p>\n
Which is where I lost it. \u00a0A little.<\/p>\n
We are in the throws of an investment of \u00a31.25bn into a two new shopping centres and an\u00a0Arena\u00a0for Leeds.<\/p>\n
Sustainability? \u00a0Frugality? \u00a0Localism?<\/p>\n
An additional million square feet of\u00a0retail\u00a0space, \u00a0and 13500 seats to be sold at least 100 nights a year at an average ticket price of perhaps \u00a330? \u00a0And a further \u00a315m is to be invested in a southern entrance to the station (pedestrian only) when the existing 2 entrances are shambolic.<\/p>\n
Now the shopping centres will be funded\u00a0entirely\u00a0out of private money I believe. \u00a0And investors have no doubt done the research to suggest that even in times of frugality they are an investment that will pay off. \u00a0Because the frugality is not for all of us. \u00a0We are not all in frugality together. \u00a0Nor sustainability.<\/p>\n
The southern entrance to the station will be paid for by money from central government and\u00a0local\u00a0transport bodies (don’t ask me if they are public or private – but I suspect it is either our\u00a0taxes\u00a0or our fares one way or another). \u00a0But it is an investment that will reduce travel times for an estimated 20% of the stations users who need\u00a0to\u00a0access \u00a0Granary Wharf, Holbeck Urban Village or the City Inn. \u00a0Now I would be gobsmacked if those destinations counted for 20% of station passengers – but I will go with it.<\/p>\n
And how will it reduce journey times?<\/p>\n
By\u00a0meaning\u00a0that passengers will no longer have to\u00a0walk\u00a0for perhaps 5 minutes and pass through the\u00a0recently refurbished Neville Street and under the Dark Arches to get south of the river.<\/p>\n
This at a time, and over a timescale, when 1 in 6 council workers will be made redundant to save \u00a3150m over the next 4 years….<\/p>\n
1 in 6 council workers being laid off and we spend \u00a315m so that those who can still commute to a job have a shorter walk.<\/p>\n
So I asked a question.<\/p>\n
I asked whether this sounded like it was smart\u00a0strategy\u00a0for a city facing challenges of sustainability and frugality? \u00a0Apparently that is a political question….one on which Rashik would not be drawn.<\/p>\n
Perhaps \u00a0now is not a time for ‘political’ questions….<\/p>\n
I think that it is. \u00a0But, perhaps I am the minority.<\/p>\n
Now where was that Derek Sivers video on\u00a0starting\u00a0a movement<\/a>?<\/p>\n