LAI KeyNotes: January 2007

READERS PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING TWO CLARIFICATIONS FOR THE JANUARY 2007 KEYNOTES:

Clarification One:
There Are Still Registrations Available for the Spring Land Economics Weekend!
We didn’t mean to scare you. The only“sold out” part of the Weekend is the dinner in Dublin at Malahide Castle on 30 May. This is the first of the Weekend events. The castle has limited space for dining and arrangements for an excellent alternative dinner location has been made for those not accommodated at the castle. Naturally registration fees will be adjusted accordingly.
However, the balance of the Land Economics Weekend is not sold out--yet. The group will tour Dublin on Thursday, 31 May and then will travel by motor coach to Belfast on Friday. The Belfast tour will include a visit to the Titanic Historic District where the S.S. Titanic was built. This is now the largest redevelopment site in Europe.
These visits to Dublin and Belfast promise a wealth of information about this dynamic country, not to mention good comradeship with fellow LAI members and their guests.
We have only 20 spaces left for the Weekend. So please register as soon as possible to guarantee your attendance for what promises to be a stellar Lambda Alpha event!

Clarification Two:
The date for the Awards ceremony is actually October 19 -21, 2007 when the Awards will be Presented at the LAI Biennial in LA. The deadline date for submissions will be in the next KeyNotes. In the meantime think about colleagues who deserve to be honored!

Spring Land Economics Weekend in Dublin, Ireland
Wednesday, May 30 through Saturday, June 2, 2007
Register Now!

NOTE: The Castle for the Ireland trip is Sold Out and we are adding people to a waiting list. Please contact LAI Headquarters for more details: Michele Meng
mmeng@integrated-solutions.com or Terry Stevenson tstevenson@integrated-solutions.com; 630.510.4584

The whole of Ireland has arrived at an economic crossroads, from which there seems to be no turning back. Under sustained pressure not only from the United Kingdom government but also from the many well-wishers in the United States, the sectarian, division between the Catholic Republic of Ireland and the still largely Protestant province of Northern Ireland (otherwise known as Ulster) is disappearing. This is on the back of the realisation that in an ever more competitive world there are profound economic benefits in the whole or Ireland working together.

Malahide Castle

The Republic has seen a huge renaissance over the last decade, such that not only has inward investment been high but there has been significant net immigration to the country. Arguably the best has already been seen, but the Republic continues to enjoy high growth.

By contrast Ulster, so long plagued by security concerns, has only now begun to catch up with the south as the politicians of all hues have slowly learnt to trust each other. Belfast, Ulster’s capital, is now in a buoyant state, already having seen major urban rejuvenation and with much more in train over the coming years.

Spencer Dock

For visitors to Ireland, both north and south, 2007 will be a great time to see the impact of the growing cross-border linkages, strongly fostered by business and academe on both sides of the border. The Republic is having to learn how to manage success by keeping up the momentum of the last decade, while in the north the transition within Belfast is one of the most striking current examples of urban regeneration in the western world.

Titanic Quarter

LAI’s Irish Weekend will give ample opportunity to see all the changes in train and to meet a wide range of the most influential people on both sides of the border driving the changes. Dublin’s recent success is palpable, while the work in hand in Belfast, the subject of a day trip, should certainly impress. For those looking at investment opportunities in Ireland, there will be much over which to ponder.

All in all, the Irish Weekend will be an exciting occasion, full of interesting things to see and hear. For those who can spare a little more time, the Irish countryside, regardless of the border, is beautiful to behold, while travel around the whole island is easy. And for those tempted to include England, Scotland and Wales on their itinerary, these are but a short hop by air across the Irish Sea.

Dr. Karen Sieracki

LAI member Agenda for the Dublin Land Economics Weekend (pdf)
Registration form for the Dublin Land Economics Weekend (pdf)
Registration form for the Dublin Land Economics Weekend (doc)

Letter from the President

Dr. James A. Fawcett

On behalf of the Executive Committee and the Board of Governors, I want to wish each of you a very Happy New Year. We have an exciting year planned for Lambda Alpha and I hope you'll participate in the year's activities.

In the past month, I've been in Phoenix (at the Phoenix chapter's annual installation dinner), Las Vegas, Denver, Seoul, Taipei and Kaohsiung and the juxtaposition of those urban visions brought two things to mind: transportation and water. Let me explain: Our western cities seem to know no limit when it comes to expanding outward. The U.S. is blessed with ample land and we commonly find it more attractive to use more land in exchange for increased transportation costs. Certainly, my own city, Los Angeles, is the granddaddy of sprawl. But, what impressed me in my tour of these three expansive western cities was the extent to which transportation costs are essentially undervalued as these urban areas spread out. Both on the ground and flying over them reminded me of how accustomed we are to absorbing transportation costs in order to have the quarter acre that is the American dream. The strange weather patterns this year also remind us that the West is an arid region. The prospect of expensive oil and scarce water may be chickens that come home to roost in the next few decades.

In contrast, our Asian neighbors in Korea and Taiwan tend to build up, not out. Yes, these cities are crowded. But, there is a vitality that is palpable in each city. Their transportation modes are more creative than ours, too, (in part because the cities are more dense) utilizing light rail, subways, buses, ample taxis motor scooters and bicycles. But, these modes seem to mesh in ways that work for them. In fact, their challenge is to clean up the air pollution resulting from weak regulation of so many small gas engines. And they, too, have issues with water. However, because of seasonal weather patterns that bring vast amounts of rainfall, water quality is the more pressing issue.

The question that lingers for me is which of these two models of urban habitation is more viable in a world challenged by potential shortages of our accustomed source of energy-oil-and weather patterns that appear to be shifting the distribution of fresh water around the globe. These are issues that will only be slowly resolved but I wanted to share with you a snapshot that occurred as I had the unusual chance to see such different urban patterns within one month.

This month I have a variety of issues on my mind, perhaps one of them will be of interest to you. :)

Eminent Domain:
Update on the Supreme Court's consideration of the local use of the power of eminent domain has resulted in the Court refusing to reconsider their opinion. It will be interesting to see the effect, if any, this has on the states that passed more restrictions on the use of this power. For the moment it seems that the Congress has other business on its mind and hopefully will not take this issue up again.

Markets Markets Markets!
Under the Golden Gate Chapter's report is an excellent analysis of the "Disparity Between Markets as the Economy Peaks" prepared by Alan Billingsley and Hope Nadji, both Directors of Research, North America, RREEF. Their astute "Outlook in Brief" considers, country wide, the significant slowing of the economy in 2007, preparation for rebound in 2008-2009, cuts to the Fed, oil prices, imports decline/exports increase and much more.

Potential Development Visits:
While we are in Ireland this spring, it may be a good time to look at other opportunities in the "Old World". Europe never stands still and this year will be not exception. There are some factors to consider in your sightseeing, i.e. the French are cracking down on speeders and the British are cracking down on smokers.
By June, speedy TGV trains will cut train times to Alsace and Northern France by half offering swift passages to Reims, Verdun, Strasbourg and Colmar (three hours to Colmar instead of six).

In Poland the reconstruction around Krakow's train station is complete. It shares a shiny new square with an enormous, 270 store shopping mall. Train stations seem to be the trigger for lots of development. Berlin's huge central train station, the Hauptbanhof (the used to be the Lehrter Bahnhof) is now open. Now virtually every long-distance Berlin bound train comes through this station. Spain, also has a new high-speed train that connects Madrid and Toledo in 30 minutes. Toledo is building a new convention center with a huge escalator that will take visitors from the bus station nearly to the main square, Plaza Zocodover. Tarifa in southern Spain offers the easiest day-trip ferry connections to Tangier, Morocco. Restorations in Tangier are taking place on a grand scale, thanks to foal of returning the city to its former glory. The beach has been cleaned and pedestrian promenades are poping up everywhere. Development opportunities?

Potential Sight Seeing:
On the sight seeing end of our Irish visit there are a couple of highlights you may want to consider. Dublin's National Museum has split into branches. Its impressive history exhibit (on the 1916 Easter Uprising, War of Independence from Britain and Civil War) has been moved from Kildare Street to the branch at Benburb, north of the River Liffey. In Galway, the Galway Irish Crystal Heritage Center is no longer open, but the town has a new cultural attraction: " Trad on the Prom", a high energy traditional music and dance trupe startd by Galway-born performers who toured with "Riverdance". They perform daily May through September, www.tradontheprom.com.

Talk to us, what is on your mind? Hot topics for your Chapter? Comments on the above?

Biennial International Awards

We often hear the question, "Where are the leaders who can inspire me, today?" This is an especially common statement from the next generation who are, today, looking for role models they can emulate.

Lambda Alpha International and LAI Chapters are home to both role models and leaders in the many fields of endeavor that relate to land use and management. Members of LAI have made contributions to their profession and to their communities. They have earned the respect of their peers and of the next generation of leaders.

Through the LAI Awards ceremonies every other year, we are able to give special recognition to a few very special members and other leaders in fields of endeavor related to Land Economics:

Four awards recognize service to land economics professions or to the organization:
Edward L. Johnson Member of the Year Award
International Public Official Award
International Urban Affairs Award
International Fellow Award

Two awards honor the memory and contributions of distinguished LAI members:
Richard T. Ely Distinguished Educator Award
Gerald D. Hines International Humanitarian Award

Two awards recognize special professional skills and contributions:
Journalism Award
Author Award

Finally, The International Skyline Award is selected from Chapter nominations for individual Chapter Skyline Awards and recognizes: "noteworthy and commendable instances of the practical application of the principles of land economics in the preservation, development, or utilization of our land resources."

Descriptions of the various awards can be found at the LAI web site. March 31, 2007 is the deadline for Chapters to submit nominations for the International Awards to be given in May/June 2007.

This is your opportunity, as a member and as a Chapter, to recognize and to honor those special people who inspire you, your peers, and the next generation of leaders in the land economics field. Take a moment and think about the many men and women who contributed to your professional development.

Thank you.

Fereydoon Ghaffari, Chair,
International Awards Committee