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SkyriseEdmonton is proud to introduce Getting to Know, a brand new series that will introduce our readers to a host of city-builders, innovators, and urbanists, whose vision for the future includes the creation of cities as livable spaces for all.
Once named one of Canada's 50 most important people by Maclean's, Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson has come into the spotlight as a progressive city-builder in his own right. A longtime champion of density, affordable housing, public transit, and bike lanes, the then 34-year-old Don Iveson won the 2013 Mayoral race handily, with nearly 62% of the vote, a stunning success in a city whose recent urban transformation has been progressing by leaps and bounds for the majority of the last decade.
Young, progressive, and media savvy, Mayor Iveson comes to the City of Edmonton's top job from a varied academic and professional background which includes a Bachelor of Political Science, a stint as a writer at the University of Alberta's The Gateway, and a post-graduation term as President of the Canadian University Press, followed by a political career which has seen Iveson champion a myriad of urban-centric causes, such as public transit, affordable housing, and sustainability. Viewed below delivering remarks at the site of the currently under-construction ICE District in downtown Edmonton, Mayor Iveson has brought his long-held vision of a city which works for everyone to the Mayor's Office.
Faced with a projected annual influx of 30,000 new inhabitants, Edmonton's recent rise has been carefully observed by Mayor Iveson along with his staff and fellow City Councillors. The mayor is taking a special interest in the city's ongoing transformation into an increasingly dense, urban metropolis. A "humble city" for not much longer in his view, Edmonton is by all appearances a city on the brink of greatness, having done a lot of growing in a short timespan. The city Mayor Iveson grew up in no longer resembles the one over which he now presides.
While only the future — and to a large degree, the next election cycle in 2017 — will reveal what is in store for Edmonton and the holistic city-building vision shared by Iveson and his allies on City Council, it is safe to say that his impact upon the city has been positive. The progress made in just a few short years in terms of promoting Edmonton as a viable urban space will likely prove invaluable in the coming years as Alberta's economy continues to diversify and evolve.
SkyriseEdmonton will return soon with another edition of Getting to Know. Got an idea for our new series? Let us know!
