New Downtown Needs Churches, Cardus Says
The Calgary Herald covers new forthcoming research from Cardus in the City of Calgary: Herald link
The Centre City Plan, an ambitious vision for a revitalized downtown Calgary approved by city council in 2007, calls for higher-density housing, open spaces to savour and a robust commercial sector.
But at least one organization wonders where is the city's soul in all this.
Cardus, a public policy think-tank that studies "social architecture," brought together local business, government and faith leaders last week to renew its call for the inclusion of a worship space component in any downtown redevelopment.
The group is hoping to raise $100,000 to conduct an inventory of existing downtown church capacity and study the relationship between faith groups and the collective values vital to a compassionate city.
"Where else in a city like Calgary do you have places where blue collar meets white collar, where people from all walks of life interact on a regular basis but in churches?" said Michael Van Pelt, Cardus's president.
"We need to take a serious look at the role of faith communities and integrate them into our city cores," he added.
"It's not just a Calgary question, it's one that many cities are wrestling with."
Van Pelt noted churches already play important social roles such as providing seniors care, the welcoming and integration of immigrants and fostering the arts. They also have large networks of volunteers which can be tapped if a natural disaster or civic emergency occurs.
The Centre City Plan projects an influx of up to 40,000 more residents to downtown by 2035, one step in addressing urban sprawl.
"A lot of people are going to be missing something in their lives if there aren't places to worship in these inner-city neighbourhoods," said Van Pelt.
Calgary's downtown is home to the cathedrals of local Roman Catholics and Anglicans. Storied places of worship such as First Baptist, Knox United and Grace Presbyterian churches rub their historic shoulders with construction cranes, corporate towers and upscale condos.
Peter Menzies, a senior fellow with Cardus, said with sky-high downtown land values, worship spaces don't need to be traditional, free-standing buildings anymore. They can be housed in multi-use venues where two or three faith groups can share worship space.
Menzies noted Calgary's downtown worship sites are almost exclusively Christian, not reflective of the city's increasing religious diversity.
"We have to look at ways to make provisions for Muslim or Sikh worshippers in the future downtown core, not just in the suburbs," said Menzies.
Ward 12 Ald. Ric McIver said civic and spiritual leaders need to strengthen communication lines.
"I like the premise of this study. There's no reason you have to ignore the spiritual component of a downtown core even though we're a big, complex city," said McIver.
More information on the Cardus project is available from bharskamp@cardus.ca.