Tuesday, March 1 – Thursday, March 3, 2016
In early March, Professor Hidefumi Imura from the Global Cooperation Institute for Sustainable Cities, Yokohama City University came to Canada for a 2-city tour at the invitation of JSAC (the Japan Studies Association of Canada), and the Japan Foundation, Toronto was pleased to offer our support.
On March 1, Professor Imura delivered his talk, Planning for Smart Cities in Japan: Integration of Energy and Resource Flows in Urban Planning at UBC’s Centre for Japanese Research before a highly-engaged audience of students, faculty and city planners. On March 3, the Professor made a stop in Toronto, where he spoke to a standing-room only crowd at U of T’s Galbraith Building.
After opening remarks by Professor Professor Andre Sorensen, Professor and Chair of the Department of Human Geography at U of T Scarborough, Professor Imura described the various initiatives that cities such as Yokohama and Kita-Kyushu, forerunners in the movement to create ‘smarter’ cities, have enacted in order to link environmental policies and measures with policies relating to economic revitalization, urban planning, health and welfare. He also mentioned the lessons and consequences of the 3/11 disaster and hopeful steps that have been taken towards recovery in terms of energy management and green economy promotion.
For those who were not able to attend either the Vancouver or the Toronto lectures, Professor Imura’s March 1 talk at UBC can be seen here.
