A Better Community | Ideathon Challenge 2022

Ideathon Concept Document

A Multifaceted Solution: Preserving the Neighborhood Character

Prepared By Alasdair Bulman Ben Du Joseph Al Rahmani Maddison Baragar

The Vision

A multifaceted problem requires a multifaceted solution. ABC False Creek South (FCS) is focusing on redeveloping an inefficiently-used non-residential section of land by bringing together interconnected solutions for a more livable neighborhood.

Figure 1. People walking along False Creek South.Source: City of Vancouver.

Residents of False Creek South (FCS) are situated at a crossroads between a future that either embraces or disregards the endearing neighborhood character virtually untouched for forty years. While local and regional pressures are accumulating towards inevitable change, ABC False Creek South strives to lead redevelopment in a way that “upholds the unique character-defining elements, drawing inspiration from the historic neighborhood character while acknowledging its central location” (City of Vancouver, n.d.).

Problem Definition

BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT

For thousands of years, the FCS area was inhabited by Indigenous groups including the xʷməθkʷəyəm (Musqueam) and Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) people. Some parts were used as fishing grounds and harbored villages such as the Senáḵw village (CityStudio Vancouver, n.d.). When Vancouver became increasingly colonized, FCS became an ideal location for industries due to easy access to the English Bay. There was intense competition between companies for a spot at the waterfront. By the end of World War II, however, companies began abandoning the neighborhood in favor of larger industrial areas (City of Vancouver, 2017).

The City of Vancouver acquired most of the land at the waterfront and established a development plan centered around residential and recreational use. The design incorporated a mix of housing styles in order to accommodate a variety of income levels. Building design was “human-centered” with low-rise structures closer to the waterfront that preserved mountain views, and incorporated parks and other green spaces between buildings. This community-centered design established a village-like atmosphere that would contribute to making FCS a success in urban planning (City of Vancouver, n.d.). The majority of housing within the community was constructed in the 1970s and 1980s. Many resident leases are due to terminate by the 2030s and 2040s, which presents opportunities for redevelopment.

As Vancouver faces the heightening challenges of population density, affordability, and climate change, FCS will require new infrastructure to address these issues. Moving forward, it is essential that this development takes into account the history of FCS, and maintains its unique, livable, and human-centered character that initially made it so successful.

The selected project site (see Figure 2) has been carefully identified as a currently inefficient use of land lacking the distinctive character meandering the FCS neighborhood. Located to the north of W 2nd Ave and west of Cambie St, an under-utilized parking lot and five open tennis courts face the prospect of a successful redevelopment reinforcing the authenticity and character of the FCS neighborhood. Refer to Figure 11 for the full sitemap showing redevelopment.

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ABC False Creek South | A Multifaceted Solution: Preserving the Neighborhood Character

SITE SELECTION

Figure 2 Map of selected site.

CORE ISSUES AND ASSUMPTIONS

A lack of seamless integration with the surrounding neighborhood character and an inefficient use of space represents the primary issue with the selected site. Considering rising housing prices in Vancouver along with an ongoing cost-of-living crisis, the selected site could both provide some much needed affordable housing units and strengthen the FCS community and local economy. Additional issues include sparse green spaces not reflective of unique FCS characteristics, stagnant commercial activity, and a lack of expanded connectivity to a broader transportation network. Failure to address these problems will deteriorate the authenticity of the FCS area and introduce barriers for a more livable community for residents and visitors.

The planning of the new development presents several assumptions made due to a handful of constraints.

● Private stakeholder values align with the project vision

● Soil integrity/stability is sufficient for supporting new high-rise buildings

● Existing below-ground infrastructure (water, sewer, power, Canada Line tunnels) is suitable for new developments (Figure 3)

Primary Objectives

Housing

To increase affordable housing choices within the FCS neighborhood by developing six new mixed-income high-rise buildings.

Transit

To realize FCS as a central location within Vancouver and share the community with the rest of the city, a new transit framework must be established. A transportation hub that links the Canada Line station and the existing right-of-way to the selected site.

Green Space

Figure 3 Map of below-ground infrastructure.

To increase green spaces in the project ties into present themes in FCS. Green spaces are given a high priority in its development and play an integral role in the sense of place in the area. ABC False Creek South plans to build on this.

Strategic Partnerships

To establish a symbiotic relationship between public and private stakeholders in order to replicate and enhance the unique characteristics of FCS on the selected site. This can be done through implementing affordable housing, a transportation hub, green spaces, promoting the local economy, and highlighting historical and Indigenous arts and culture.

Ideathon Concept Document

ABC False Creek South | A Multifaceted Solution: Preserving the Neighborhood Character

Local Businesses

To ensure that residents have access to needs and services and can support local businesses, while catering to diverse income levels.

Arts and Culture

To reinforce the neighborhood character by elevating arts and culture through educational initiatives that strive to capture an intricate history of Indigenous community and industrial development.

A Multifaceted Solution

PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT

Residents have ideas about how to successfully expand their community. Starting from a place of trust with residents, and keeping that trust in all steps of the planning process is integral for a solution that works for everyone. ABC False Creek South is committed to data-driven decision making through extensive and meaningful public engagement. Therefore, it’s important to acknowledge that while the solutions presented below have been developed with existing data, more engagement is required to capture a fulsome and accurate perspective on community priorities and values.

ABC False Creek South champions four principles for a meaningful engagement process, which includes consulting in advance of key decisions, ensuring residents are informed in their input, inclusivity and accessibility, and considering a diversity of perspectives for developments that have broader implications.

STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS

There is immense value in evaluating and taking inspiration from surrounding models of developments in the FCS neighborhood for a cohesive community-building strategy. Partnerships can be essential for accomplishing the solutions proposed in this document. An example of a successful partnership is the Senáḵw development, spearheaded by partners Nch'ḵay Development Corporation and Westbank Projects Corp (Senáḵw, 2020). Through this partnership and an in-depth analysis of the historic context of the proposed site, a distinct “organic and freeform” building typology surfaced. The mixed-use buildings include roughly 1300 units (see Figure 4) catering to di demographics and income levels, various commercial units, and parkades (Sen

Figure 4. Map of Senáḵw Development – PartnershipCapabilities

The partnership betweenNch'ḵay and Westbank allows the Senáḵw development to contribute towards solving the housing affordability problem, while staying true to the geographical and historical context of the land.

The aforementioned proves that the vast capabilities attained and opportunities provided by partnerships are limitless, and in the case of the FCS selected site, partnerships are vital to the success of the project. Through carefully crafted partnerships between the City of Vancouver, FCS Neighbourhood Association, ABC False Creek South, and West Bank Project Corporation, the unique characteristics of FCS will be reflected in the “organic and freeform” building typology that follows the same village-like enclave aesthetic (Senáḵw, 2020).

Ideathon Concept Document

ABC False Creek South | A Multifaceted Solution: Preserving the Neighborhood Character

MORE AFFORDABLE AND DIVERSE HOUSING CHOICES

The lack of housing poses an issue with the increasing demand of affordable housing within Vancouver and more specifically FCS. The City of Vancouver projects an increase in the availability of housing within FCS from about 1850 units to around 3770 units by 2040 (Culber, 2021). Therefore, six new mixed-income high-rise buildings will be constructed on the selected site and will be comprised of market and non-market rentals, market and non-market co-ops, social housing, and residential housing (strata), with an emphasis on family units to foster a more tight-knit community (see Figure 4) By implementing this development plan, the City’s goal of increasing units will be achieved at a much faster rate than redeveloping existing homes in FCS and can be used as temporary homes for people that will be potentially displaced during the redevelopment of the rest of FCS.

Affordable housing presents many advantages. Evidence-based research conducted by the U.S. Department of Housing and Development “has shown that when families have stable, decent, and accessible homes that they can afford, they are better able to find employment, achieve economic mobility, perform better in school, and maintain improved health” (National Low Income Housing Coalition, n.d.). Additionally, it’s in the firms’ best interest—be it the City of Vancouver, ABC False Creek South, or WestBank Corp—to continue providing affordable housing due to better resident retention and resiliency in the housing market (Burns, 2020).

EXPANDED GREEN SPACES

Figure 5. Vancouver Convention Center green roof. Green spaces have always been an integral factor in the character of FCS, and ABC False Creek South aims to increase green spaces throughout the selected site. This will take a number of forms, from planting native species like maple or elderberry trees (MotherNature, 2019) between and around the new buildings, to new community gardens, one at ground level, and additional boxes on the roofs of the new buildings. These roofs will also be green roofs, planted with native grass species similar to the Vancouver Convention Center (Greenroofs, 2020); they have the benefit of providing habitats for local insect and plant species as well as aiding in building temperature regulation. The Convention Center (see Figure 5) saw summer heat gains reduced by 95%, and winter heat losses decreased by 25% because of their roof (Greenroofs, 2020), replicating this will go a long way to reducing energy costs and making the new buildings in the selected FCS site more sustainable. Furthermore, ABC False Creek South is committing to a 1:5 tree replant ratio (5 trees planted for every tree uprooted) in the construction process, ensuring minimal environmental impact. These changes will maintain and improve the standard of green spaces already seen in FCS, building on and reinforcing its historic character with the reintroduction of native species that were removed during the industrial era.

BETTER TRANSIT SERVICE

In 2018, a city-commissioned study to update the 2004 streetcar proposal was conducted to measure the feasibility and the technology needed to construct a new streetcar network (City of Vancouver, 2018). This network would “revive the Olympic Village Line route”—known to run on the right-of-way between Granville

Ideathon Concept Document

ABC False Creek South | A Multifaceted Solution: Preserving the Neighborhood Character

Bridge and Olympic Village—and would span the length of around 9 kilometers (Chan, 2021). Utilizing the Arbutus Greenway, the line would run from the future Arbutus Skytrain Station to “the edge of Stanley Park” (Chan, 2021), while passing through FCS and the selected site (see Figure 6).

Figure 6. Planned streetcar route (blue line).

Through the implementation of the new streetcar network, and the already-existing Canada Line station, the selected site will become a transportation hub for FCS residents and will highlight the neighborhood’s central location in Vancouver (see Figure 7). Walking through the neighborhood will become a part of people’s daily commute, promoting the local economy and increasing exposure to the unique village-like atmosphere.

It is also worth mentioning that the City has existing partnerships with the bike share company Mobi by Shaw Go—making the Canada Line Station and the new streetcar station more accessible to FCS residents and maintaining biking as a supplement mode of transportation within the neighborhood. The Mobi bikes foster equitable transportation by providing discounted passes to vulnerable community members, and they promote sustainable transportation as members have “kept 3,347,938 kg of carbon emissions out of the environment by choosing to bike instead of drive” (Cision, 2022).

EMPHASIS ON LOCAL SHOPS AND SERVICES

Figure 7.

The mixed-use housing will integrate commercial spaces on the ground levels for leasing (see Figure 8). This will provide residents local access to needs and services while also creating more jobs within the neighborhood. To bolster the objective of supporting local, priority is placed on leasing to businesses that procure goods and services from local Vancouver and Indigenous vendors.

Figure 8. Map of Senáḵw Development inspiring ABCFCS. A part of this commercial space will be designated for a flea market to support a variety of local shops. Since False Creek houses residents with a broad range of income levels, the flea market will cater to these range of income levels with priority placed on affordability to ensure all residents can obtain what they need. A market-style area also serves as a gathering space for residents with opportunities for local events, preserving a sense of community within the new developments.

Ideathon Concept Document

ABC False Creek South | A Multifaceted Solution: Preserving the Neighborhood Character

The co-op housing will integrate food co-ops—grocery stores that are run by store share-holders (Fischer, 2021). These share-holders are shoppers themselves who have a say in how the store is run and the products stocked. With the implementation of these shops, co-op residents and other community members have access to affordable food prices, while being able to directly regulate the type and quality of products being offered.

ENHANCED ACCESS TO ARTS AND CULTURE

Arts and culture is a key piece of preserving the neighborhood character — past, present, and future. Therefore, a variety of solutions are proposed to capture a long and intricate history of FCS.

The new development will be enriched with a stronger Indigenous presence, through Indigenous-selected names for the new structures and a new arts and community center featuring programming relevant to FCS history (e.g., interactive Indigenous canoe carving and culture workshops ) contributing to meaningful truth and reconciliation. Additional education elements will be integrated throughout site infrastructure, such as informational panels on street lamp posts with scannable QR-codes for a digital tour of the FCS history. These initiatives will encourage residents and guests to develop a deeper understanding and appreciation for the historical aspects of FCS and its Indigenous past. To capture the succeeding industrial period, art installations, engaging workshops, and informative display boards will inform community members on how the industrial period impacted the planning of the neighborhood. Finally, the placement of new structures will be strategically considered to integrate with the meandering streets and clusters of the surrounding areas.

By championing cohesive building designs, complex connections with Northwest Coast First Nation peoples, and meaningful programming centered around education, this redeveloped area of FCS will preserve the neighborhood character and align itself with Vancouver’s new Culture Plan for 2020-2029.

Project Limitations

One of the primary limitations of the selected site is Margeret Mitchell Place, a pre-existing modular housing unit in the center of the selected site (PHS, 2021). This building is a temporary housing solution constructed by the City with approximately 50 units to shelter the city’s homeless and vulnerable population (PHS, 2021). All residents will need to be relocated in order for new developments to be constructed, strategically timed in phases.

Figure 10.

Ideathon Concept Document

ABC False Creek South | A Multifaceted Solution: Preserving the Neighborhood Character

Figure 9. Canoe culture carving workshops and activities.

Another limitation regarding the design of the development is limited parking availability. All proposed buildings rely heavily on underground parking with little to no above-ground parking. Underground traffic volumes may pose issues regarding the control of traffic in limited space, or a lack of parking for motor vehicles.

A final limitation of the planning process is that none of the ABC False Creek South team members are of Indigenous descent of the local FCS Indigenous groups. Therefore, these solutions couldn’t feature a direct Indigenous perspective to the planning process. Also, no team members will be directly affected by the redevelopment of FCS. As such, we must put greater emphasis on the importance of public engagement before commencing with the project to ensure that important perspectives are taken into consideration and integrated meaningfully into the planning process.

Conclusion

As Vancouver continues to see rising challenges in density, affordability, and a changing climate, the community of False Creek South faces inevitable change as it meets these challenges. Redevelopment can preserve or disregard the character of the neighborhood—one that has been long considered as a great example of good design and planning. ABC False Creek South presents multifaceted solutions that will guide redevelopment such that the community can rise to meet its challenges and embrace the unique character of FCS, all while acknowledging its historical context and central location in Vancouver.

Ideathon Concept Document

ABC False Creek South | A Multifaceted Solution: Preserving the Neighborhood Character

Figure 11. Map of future redevelopment presented byABC False Creek South.

References

Antrim, S. (2011, February 19). Vancouver’s Property Endowment Fund. The Mainlander https://themainlander.com/2011/02/19/vancouvers-property-endowment-fund/

Burns, R. (2020, January 7). Council post: How wholecommunities benefit from affordable housing. Forbes. Retrieved December 4, 2022, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesrealestatecouncil/2020/01/06 /how-whole-communities-benefit-from-affordable-housing/?sh=330be15e24e8

Canoe carving and building. Canoe Cultures. (n.d.). Retrieved December 3, 2022, from https://canoecultures.com/canoe-carving-and-building/

Chan, K. (2021, September 20). Urbanized. 12-km streetcarin downtown Vancouver and False Creek to cost $1 billion: city report. Retrieved December 3, 2022, from https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/downtownvancouver-false-creek-streetcar-route-map

Chan, K. (2022, April 25). Urbanized. Vancouver CityCouncil seeks to restart Waterfront Station hub planning. Retrieved December 3, 2022, from https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/central-waterfront-hubframework-vancouver-transit-hub-planning

City of Vancouver. (n.d.). Culture: Shift: Blanketingthe city in arts and culture. Culture|Shift | Cityof Vancouver. Retrieved December 3, 2022, from https://vancouver.ca/parks-recreation-culture/culture-shift.aspx

City of Vancouver. (n.d.). False creek south. Cityof Vancouver. Retrieved December 4, 2022, from https://vancouver.ca/home-property-development/false-creek-south.aspx

City of Vancouver (n.d.) False creek south provisionalvision statement and guiding planning ... RetrievedDecember 1, 2022, from https://vancouver.ca/files/cov/false-creek-south-provisional-vision-statement-and-guiding guiding-planning-principles.pdf

City of Vancouver (2017, November 25.). False Creek south - vancouver. Retrieved December 3, 2022, from https://vancouver.ca/files/cov/false-creek-south-history-and-context-workshop-presentation.pdf

City of Vancouver. (n.d.). Retrieved December 3, 2022, from https://vancouver.ca/files/cov/2018-472-release.pdf

CityStudio Vancouver. (n.d.). Retrieved December 3, 2022, from https://www.citystudiovancouver.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/HistoryBoards2.pdf

Ideathon Concept Document

ABC False Creek South | A Multifaceted Solution: Preserving the Neighborhood Character

Culber, L. (2021.) False Creek South fights to keep affordable homes in an unaffordable city. Vancouver Sun. Retrieved 15 November 2022, from https://vancouversun.com/business/real-estate/false-creeksouth-fights-to-keep-affordable-homes-in-an-unaffordable-city

Design. Senáḵw. (2020). Retrieved December 4, 2022,from https://senakw.com/design

Equitable Green Interventions for False Creek South.(n.d.). CityStudio Vancouver. Retrieved 14 November 2022, from https://citystudiovancouver.com/projects/equitable-green-interventions-for-false-creek-south/ Fisher, L. (2021, September 30). 4 reasons to considerjoining a Food Co-op. Real Simple. Retrieved December3, 2022, from https://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/shopping-storing/food/what-is-a-food-co-op Inc, V. B. S. (2022, August 30). Vancouver's publicbike share launches e-bikes. Cision Canada. RetrievedDecember 4, 2022, from www.newswire.ca/news-releases/vancouver-s-public-bike-share-launches-e-bikes816123701

Margaret Mitchell Place: PHS Community Services Society.PHS. (2021, June 15). Retrieved December 1, 2022, from https://www.phs.ca/locations/margaret-mitchell-place/

Mother Nature | Native Plants of British Columbia.(2019, June 19).From https://mother-nature.ca/native-plants-of-british-columbia/

Murphy, J. (2014, March 16). Sustainability SolutionsGroup | Vancouver Convention Centre honored by AIASustainability Solutions Group https://www.ssg.coop/vancouver-convention-centre-honoured-by-aia/ National Low Income Housing Coalition. (n.d.). RetrievedDecember 3, 2022, from https://nlihc.org/sites/default/files/A-Place-To-Call-Home.pdf

Partnership. Senáḵw. (2020). Retrieved December 4,2022, from https://senakw.com/partnership

Vancouver Convention Centre West / Expansion Project.Greenroofs.com. (2022, August 18). Retrieved December 1, 2022, from http://www.greenroofs.com/projects/vancouver-convention-centre-west-expansion-project

Vision. Senáḵw. (2020). Retrieved December 4, 2022,from https://senakw.com/vision

Ideathon Concept Document

ABC False Creek South | A Multifaceted Solution: Preserving the Neighborhood Character