1 minute read
LURA Consulting
Location: Centre for Social Innovation, 192 Spadina Avenue, Suite 424
LURA is a leader in collaborative planning and public outreach. Their focus on innovation, meaningful engagement, integration, and ownership lead to more sustainable planning, building infrastructure, and community engagement strategies.
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Throughout my placement with LURA, I was considered a Community Engagement Coordinator and Graphics Specialist. In this role I was focused on creating 2D diagrams and mapping materials to present to the public on behalf of developers. The first project I worked on was in the City of Hamilton. Social Innovation Canada is proposing a new affordable housing hub in Hamilton and is exploring sites throughout the city that are serviceable by both the future LRT lines as well as in close proximity to existing social housing sites. I was tasked to create a map that showed the locations of different social housing sites along with the future LRT stations (pictured on the bottom right of the spread). This map was shown to community members and various stakeholder groups in Hamilton where they had the opportunity to be heard (pictured in the images on the top right of the spread). Event goers were able to mark up the map and LURA then amalgamates a report for the developers to guide the project in a direction that suits the communities needs.
One thing I learned is the power through which a medium can hold; I have a background in geography so I know how maps can manipulate a reader. I had to remember to be conscious of the colours I was using and the sizes of icons I was using so as to not show any bias to one site over another. One thing I enjoyed is knowing how well a good map can be used during one of these engagement events. The visual understanding a map brings is incredible. Community engagement is a necessary step in urban development that should be done in many stages of the realization of a site. This way, members of the community and affected stakeholders have an opportunity to guide the changes happening in their neighbourhood.
