Salt Lake City: Liveability in the 21st Century
Learn more about how Salt Lake City has undergone a transformation that makes it one of the most dynamic and desired cities in the United States
Last updated 1 March 2025
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Lecture details
Salt Lake City: Liveability in the 21st Century
21 November 2016
3.00pm – 5.00pm. Registration from 2.30pm, seated by 3.00pm
MND Auditorium
Lecture video
Synopsis
In the last two decades, Salt Lake City has undergone a transformation that makes it one of the most dynamic and desired cities in the United States - mobility options have been expanded with trails, bikeways, street cars and light rail; the downtown has been revitalised with a mix of cultural facility and public building investments catalysing private projects of over $2 billion; efforts to reduce homelessness received national acclaim; and work on sustainability (energy use shifts, local agriculture and business adjustments, affordable housing, multi-modal transportation improvements, environmental and open space protection) won numerous awards. Ralph will relate his experiences of the many reforms above, including non-discriminatory ordinances, expanded public engagement opportunities, access to government information, and revamped permitting process put in place during his term as Mayor.
Lecture report
As an urban planner, Dr Ralph Becker cuts a slightly different figure as a US city mayor. Serving two terms as Mayor of Salt Lake City, Utah (2008–2016), Dr Becker and his team brought about a much-acclaimed transformation to the city’s liveability.
Solar energy was identified as the most achievable and easiest energy source, given Utah’s weather.
From 2008 to 2016, recycling increased 60% alongside the new pay-as-you-throw system. The city has set a zero-waste target for 2040, and has reduced waste by 50% as of 2015. Salt Lake City is also operating a bike-share system, launched with 70% private funding five years ago.
“There is great exposure, I can tell you, to politicians and also to planners and others, when you open up your whole process to public scrutiny, public comment and public review — and all of the media attention that can come with those controversies.
“There’s a great wisdom in the hundreds of thousands of people that may get involved in the process, depending on its size and scope.
“People think that when they start this process, they know what the end result is going to be. I have never seen that happen, when you do a decent job of involving the public.
On the conflicting demands between citizens concerned with immediate horizons and the longer-term view of professionals, Dr Becker gave an analogy from white-water kayaking.
“In kayaking, one tries to find a course that’s comfortable — sometimes on a big wave, trying to find a sweet spot where you get ahead on the wave but not too far ahead, and enough to move fast.
“I think of politics and leadership in kind of the same way. Trying to find that spot where you’re on the front edge, is the key to helping the community and people move forward. But if you get too far ahead, people get angry and they don’t understand the change, and they get rid of you.”
This report first appeared in the Dec 2016 Better Cities newsletter.
About the Speakers
SPEAKER
Dr Ralph Becker
Fellow, American Institute of Certified Planners
Former Mayor, Salt Lake City
Past President, National League of Cities
Dr Ralph Becker was Mayor of Salt Lake City from 2008-2016, during which time he brought about a much-acclaimed liveability transformation of the city. He had also been elected for six terms to the State of Utah Legislature. He was President of the National League of Cities, an organisation representing US municipalities, from 2008-2015. He is a lawyer and an urban planner and a partner in a planning, environmental assessment, conflict resolution and policy analysis consulting firm in Salt Lake City.
MODERATOR
Ong See Hai
Honorary Secretary,
Singapore Institute of Planners
Ong See Hai is the Honorary Secretary of the Singapore Institute of Planners, an institute representing urban planners and allied professionals committed to the betterment of communities through good urban planning and development practices. See Hai has thirty years of urban planning and municipal consulting work experience in Singapore, South-East Asia, China, Central Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America.