Questions and Answers: Hudnut and Heimstra

During the noon luncheon, two principal speakers gave spontaneous answers to written questions from the audience.

1. The question, “How will the changing nature of work and careers affect our vision?” went to Heimstra, who projected that “the world of work is moving away from jobs to a world of stints. That is, we continue to work in order to earn our livings and will continue to work to earn our livings, but stints are shorter term, they are less secure, they come and go faster, companies will come and go faster, careers will come and go faster, the nature of kinds of kinds of jobs will come and go faster, and that means more change and more turmoil. But at the same time, it means more opportunity to try new things.

“The second thing that is happening is that work itself is becoming more individually focused; that is, it is possible to do more work in various kinds of settings. We heard Mayor Hudnut talk about, ‘Have laptop, will travel. Have home office, will work there.’ Over the next 25 years it is not guaranteed but it is likely that we will see gradual downsizing of high-rise office towers full of people doing office work, and we’ll see that spread out somewhat more.

“But don’t get the idea that people will stop working. Remember when all the famous futurists of the 1960s said we’d be having about a half year of leisure time by now, and it didn’t quite work out.”

2. Asked for “some of the things you would have done differently in Indianapolis,” Hudnut said that first of all he would have “taken an economics course” in college, and secondly, “I would have taken urban planning much more seriously if I had to do it all over again, because urban design and urban planning are very important.”

Hudnut cited some ventures that did not go as expected, including connecting a bond issue to support one project for the Pan Am Games with “14 different kinds of neighborhood revitalization projects, thinking that would make it more palatable than just a bond issue to refurbish one particular set of public houses for the athletes village. And that was a mistake. The reason it was a mistake was that it gave the people 14 things to shoot at instead of one.”

3. Hudnut also responded to the question, “Please comment on the appropriate role of the public and private sector in public/private partnerships in community development, and how do you respond to the view that if something is needed, the private sector should or will do it.”

“ Well, obviously it takes both. Obviously, east is east and west is west and never the twain shall meet; that’s not a good philosophy when you’re trying to run a city. You’ve got to have a spirit of partnership and cooperation. There are three legs to the partnership stool. The for-profit part of the private sector, the independent or not-for-private part of the private sector, and the public sector.”

Hudnut said that it this kind of partnership, “where the public and the private sector and the not-for-profit world work together that is the key, in my opinion, in the success of a city. You can’t say government’s got to do it all. It just won’t work. Nor can government sit back and say, ‘Well, let the private sector do it.’ It takes both.”

4. The final question, prefaced with the statement that every city that’s begun a revitalization process is embracing ecological and environmental stewardship and protection, “What can be done and must be done to ensure a sound future that incorporates social, environmental, economic, and ecological success?”

Futurist Heimstra was direct: “Well you have to build green and you have to start thinking about eco-economy,” he said. “In fact, there’s a lot of really good writing going on right now about the major move over the next 25 years to really think about an ecologically sound economy,” reminding his audience, “You might as well start thinking environmentally.”

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Contents

Introduction

The Mayor’s Objectives

Small Group Discussions & Questions

Glen Heimstra
The Shape of Things to Come

William Hudnut III
A Vision for Urban America

Q&A: Hudnut and Heimstra «

Clayton Vaughn
You Said We Couldn’t Do It, But...

Rodger Randle
The Demographics of Today’s Tulsa

The Branding of Tulsa

Robert LaFortune
Investing in the future generations of our city

Mollie Williford
Volunteerism and the Arts

James Goodwin
Leaving No One Behind

Kathy LaFortune
Continuing the Vision

Credits