which tends to limit innovation. “Munici-
palities often work with very outdated reg-
ulatory frameworks and bylaws that are
20 or 30 years old,” said Lang. LWPAC is
carrying out dialogues with the municipali-
ties that it works with to communicate the
importance of change and the role it plays
in driving innovation forward.
“The innovation and drive to renew our city
is not sufficient, but I think that is chang-
ing,” Lang said.
Another hindrance to innovation is an ad-
versity to risk. “It’s a bigger risk not to
change the way how we do things than
keep doing what’s status quo,” Lang said.
The greatest risk, in his opinion, is resis-
tance to innovation. “That’s why we cre-
ated a firm where we can drive innovation
ourselves,” he added.
The third point Lang sees as an impedi-
ment to urban design is the segregation
between engineering and construction.
He believes that these proponents of a
project must be integrated from the very
beginning in order to successfully rethink
urban planning in Vancouver.
“For the city of Vancouver, we have the po-
tential to make this a phenomenal place.
Our goal is to drive forward a deep inte-
gration between all aspects of design and
that’s from the cultural, to the way that we
live in the city to the technological. We’ll
keep driving that forward,” Lang said.
lwpac.net
SEPTEMBER 2016
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business elite canada
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