Planning Pool

Planning fails are often the physical manifestation of misguided perceptions. Though well-intentioned, perpetuating outdated beliefs is irresponsible; green solutions should have green outcomes.

The article ‘Green solutions come from many directions,’ published in the Vancouver Sun on March 9, 2010 refers to a survey in late 2009 that lists “sustainability issues in transportation” as Vancouver, BC’s primary environmental concern among residents. The author, Scott Hardy, interprets “transportation” to mean “fixing traffic problems”, which he claims “not only reduces commuting times, it leads to a greener, cleaner city.” To do this, he writes that “Vancouver needs to better manage the traffic into and out of the city.”

The idea that … Continue Reading

If you’re in Vancouver on Friday morning and have some time, drop by the University of British Columbia’s Graduate Student Society building and see us present about digital media & public engagement! Registration is $25 for students and you can find out more information here.

Hope to see you then!

Edited to add:
Our introductory slides for this panel are now available on Slideshare here. Panelist Karen Quinn Fung’s slides will also be made available on Slideshare in the next few days.

Vancouver’s 2010 Olympic Winter Games claim to be the ‘greenest’ games ever. But are carbon offsets actually effective?

January 14 brought good news – at least for now –  for residents of the Downtown Eastside in Vancouver, Canada, and more broadly for supporters of harm reduction policies. That’s when the British Columbia Court of Appeal upheld a decision made by the British Columbia Supreme Court back in 2008 which ruled that the closure of InSite would violate the Charter right of the facility’s users to “security of the person”.

Vancouver’s only supervised injection site, InSite has provided intravenous drug users with a safe place to inject drugs and access care services, including addiction counselling and treatment, since 2003. Working under the harm reduction model, InSite’s … Continue Reading

Daniel Fontaine is a co-editor of CityCaucus.com and an active political commentator with a background in political science, writing and strategy. His great post about Vancouver’s proposed legislation legalizing urban chickens was published last October, but not much has changed on the policy front since then; Vancouver City Council still has yet to approve changes to the bylaws currently prohibiting backyard hens in the city. This post was originally published on CityCaucus.com, a blog that explores the ideas, the politics, and the people behind making Canadian cities. These days, the site is devoted to following Olympic activity around Vancouver.

… Continue Reading

We hope that will enjoy this upcoming week of posts about urban chickens in policy and practice! To kick off Chicken Week, we present a story about a very special urban chicken as told by Vancouver-based musician Craig McGregor. He begins disarmingly with “I don’t feel like playing a guitar solo; I feel like telling you a story!”

To my mind, his (true!) tale perfectly presents the disconnected, uncomfortable and absurd relationship that many urban North Americans have with our mainstream, industrial food system. It’s also very funny.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Special thanks to Craig McGregor and to Celtic Traditions, the tiny and wonderful Vancouver folk music venue where this concert was recorded.

In Vancouver, Canada, the 2010 Olympics are taking over more and more of the city in preparation for the official games and festivities. Starting last week, the city began closing roads and beefing up security, with more closures happening as time passes. As much as these obstructions are annoying to residents, in the grand scheme of things, they are publicly accepted and really not that disruptive. This has got me thinking: if Vancouverites are able to live with all these streets and access points blocked off for the next month or so, why … Continue Reading

This time, Vancouver and Vancouver sub in for London and Paris. Don’t fear though; shadows of Dickens remain. In his sweeping, heartfelt and often critical portrait of the city, Gary Stephen Ross offers up a crystal clear “before” picture of this aspiring town just ahead of the throngs about to descend on us for the Olympics. He asks us to ask: What Next?
“Vancouver’s youth, like its size, is easy to overlook. From the air, the downtown commercial grid, circumscribed by salt water and shining in the sun, calls to mind a sort of a mini-Manhattan, as snugly fitted as a Lego project. But look closely, and you’ll notice that only recently have the central buildings started to poke dramatically upward; only now is a mature skyline taking shape, the last of the baby teeth being displaced.”
It’s a worthwhile read. Find … Continue Reading

The issue of homelessness is at the forefront of debates, both formal and informal, and is a reality I see every day in Vancouver, Canada. As the 2010 Olympics start take over the city, many wonder what will happen to the city’s large homeless population.

In contrast, homelessness is widely believed to be nonexistent in Singapore, a city state in Southeast Asia. More than 85% of the Singaporean population lives in housing subsidized through the Housing and Development Board (HDB), Singapore’s public housing authority. This week, the … Continue Reading

“Olympic Line” Streetcar Demonstration in Vancouver, Canada from Planning Pool on Vimeo.

January 21 2010 at 9:30am -that’s today! – marks the start of a two-month demonstration of modern streetcar service in Vancouver during the 2010 Winter Olympics. This three-minute slideshow shows a sneak preview of the streetcars themselves, on loan from Brussels, Belgium. It also observes the City of Vancouver’s interest in finding funding and galvanizing political will to reinstate permanent streetcar service in the city.

The demonstration streetcars will be free to ride, so if you find yourself in Vancouver during the Olympics, it will be worth venturing out into the crowds to check them out. The Olympic Line will run from 6:30 AM to 12:30AM every day, with … Continue Reading