Vancouver’s world-renowned for its mixed-use developments, a robust public transit system and green space preservation.

Now it’s been captured in a new book called Vancouverism by Larry Beasley, a TransLink board member and urban planner. He details the city’s transformation from Expo 86 all the way to 2010 when Vancouver hosted the Winter Olympics.

“In that period, this city transformed from a very traditional North American city — car oriented, very much homogenized in its culture — to a real trendsetter in the world, a world city,” says Larry.

As Vancouver’s former chief planner, Larry gives readers the inside scoop on what they were trying to achieve and how a good public transit system plays a role in Vancouverism.

“If you don’t have a good transit system, you really can’t cluster people so easily. If you don’t cluster people, you don’t have a very good transit system. You find you have to choreograph both of these things together in order to get to an optimal city,” he says.

As we develop Transport 2050, a new shared regional strategy that will help navigate the next 30 years of transportation in Metro Vancouver, it’s important for us to look back while looking ahead.

Previous transportation strategies have helped make Metro Vancouver the livable region that it is today.

And looking ahead, the future could look very different from today. Climate change, new technologies, and a shifting global economy are creating new opportunities and challenges that we need to consider.

That’s why we need your creative and bold ideas for the future. Take the survey and share your ideas at transport2050.ca, and visit us at the PNE Fair (August 17 – September 2, closed Monday, August 19 and 26) for a glimpse into the past, present, and future of transportation in our region.

Larry’s book is now available in bookstores and online.