Advocacy, education and outreach in support of Vancouver's public spaces

Our Work: 2025 By-Election Candidate Survey (Updated): Lucy MALONEY (105)

1. What is your favourite public space in the city – park, plaza, street, community centre, library, etc – and why?

Without a shred of doubt it’s Beach Avenue bikeway. Every time I cycle along it I am utterly delighted to see the variety of other users – commuters with full panniers riding to and from the city. Parents with tiny kids wobbling along on their own bikes or being carried on cargo bikes or in trailers. Dogs in front baskets. Business people in suits. Roadies in lycra chatting as they travel to and from training sessions in Stanley Park. Smiling at folks on mobility scooters. Tourists on hotel bikes and mobibikes marveling at the scenery. Seeing a friend travelling in the opposite direction and stopping for a quick catch. But especially the kids, for whom so many of our public spaces are still uninviting and dangerous.

2. In 2013, Vancouver declared itself a “City of Reconciliation”. More recently it approved its UNDRIP Strategy (2022). What role do you think public space should play regarding reconciliation?

OneCity acknowledges that we live and do our political work in Vancouver on the traditional, unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh peoples. We recognize that the racist and violent practices of colonisation have had devastating impacts on these communities and that their effects continue to this day. The ongoing resistance of and victories achieved by Indigenous communities offer us vital lessons about how to do our own political work that align with principles of social justice and reconciliation. We voice our solidarity with these resilient communities.Our focus is on environmental and climate justice, a sustainable economy, social justice, affordability and equity. We believe our social and cultural lives should be integrated with our political lives and I’m proud that our previous City Councillor Christine Boyle co-led the work to adopt UNDRIP at the City.

The design of our public spaces absolutely plays a role in whether Indigenous communities are welcomed into or excluded from them. Indigenous communities must have a role in designing the City of Vancouver’s public spaces. Additionally, finally building a dedicated IWG2S+ Healing Lodge in collaboration with Host Nations would be an important and material step towards reconciliation.

3. If you could bring one new thing to the Council table on the topics of public safety and wellbeing in the Downtown Eastside, what would it be?

The Mayor’s “barrage” plan for the DTES looks to be created without sufficient – or any – involvement from impacted communities. And we have learned, again and again, that we cannot “barrage” our way out of any of these challenges. I believe that everyone in our city deserves to feel safe. Many of my neighbours are concerned about violent crime and organized crime, and I am, too. Though people from all walks of life experience crime, people in working-class neighbourhoods, and frontline workers are exposed the most. The approach the Mayor and ABC are taking in response to these challenges seems to be devoid of any meaningful equity in its implication. On top of that, the Mayor is cancelling all new supportive housing, when we know supportive housing is proven to make everyone safer. We must build more supportive housing – not freeze it across the entire city.

We need to provide the necessary community-based services like Peer-Assisted Care Teams, mental health services, and properly funding youth programs and community centres. Presently, police handle thousands of wellness checks, along with speed and traffic enforcement, and other services that could be better – and more efficiently – handled by community-based services. We also need leaders at City Hall taking the time to meet with residents and community organizations, and find consensus on ways to tackle the violence and organised crime, while making sure that ordinary residents aren’t targeted. It’s a big job, but I commit to working as a candidate – and hopefully your next Councillor – to bring these material solutions into reality.

4. How important is the democratic function of public space to you? How would you ensure public spaces like parks and plazas are accessible and inclusive?

A lot of our public spaces are inaccessible to disabled people, like the stairs/ramp combination in Robson Square that purports to be accessible but misses the mark. I am opposed to the prevalent response to homelessness that involves building hostile architecture that reduces usable resting places for people (particularly disabled people) and few rain shelters (awnings) on sidewalks in commercial areas and in front of public buildings. Many public spaces are comfortable for boys and young men but not girls and gender diverse people. Our public spaces fail to welcome racialised and marginalised communities, but there’s a lot of research out there with the answers gained by actually talking to the diversity of communities about what helps folks from all backgrounds access and participate in public spaces and I think we need to be implementing those best-practices.

5. What piece of public art do you like the most? How satisfied are you with the City’s approach to public art? Is there anything you would change?

I’m pretty fond of the oversized dining table and chairs in May & Lorne Brown Park. Not only does it give me joy because I think it’s funny, but it provides an amazing space for the local community to throw birthday parties and gatherings outdoors, which was especially handy during the pandemic. I also absolutely love the murals everywhere which always reminds of how important it is to support things like the Vancouver Mural Festival and to fund the arts and working artists!

6. There are lots of ways that public space planning can support climate-related objectives, including: protecting and planting street trees; initiatives to support walking, rolling and biking; and the restoration and enhancement of local ecosystems. How do climate matters align with your public space priorities?

Our plans for our public spaces need to include climate change planning and mitigation, especially along our shorelines. We should be investing in public spaces that benefit our whole community in flexible ways during extreme weather. Most importantly we need to do better to achieve climate justice by making sure that the working class and poor areas of our city are getting their fair share of public infrastructure investment in things like street trees that lower temperatures during heat events. We know we need equitable investments, we’ve known it for a long time, the data shows it and our neighbours are telling us they need it – we just need the political will and leaders at City Hall that will make it happen.

7. The city’s shopping streets have been hard-hit in recent years – and face further threats under the current ‘tariff war’ with the US. What will you do to support our ‘main streets’ and shopping areas?

There is so much we could be doing to support our existing and future small businesses. We need to legalize six floors and corner stores across every neighbourhood so that businesses have more customers living close and their employees can afford to live near to work. We need to take a good look at the long, complicated approvals processes and requirements that make it hard and often impossible to establish new businesses or modify existing ones. We need to build supportive housing and provide wrap-around support for folks who need it, so we can build whole communities from home, to work, to leisure, and joy. We also need to improve our transport systems especially transit, sidewalks and bike networks so that streets are safer, quieter and more inviting for locals and visitors to stop and visit businesses.OneCity has been a champion of small businesses and included in our 2022 platform:

  1. Allow for grocery stores, cafes, restaurants and small-scale retail shops in all neighbourhoods.
  2. Lower office building setback requirements to maximize floor plans and therefore jobs, while keeping space for wide sidewalks, bike lanes, bike parking, new patios and street trees.
  3. Grant density bonuses for buildings that incorporate city-owned floor space for non-profit organizations and cultural treasures that otherwise couldn’t afford new commercial rents.
  4. Explore the creation of a commercial tenant board to provide oversight and protect small businesses.
  5. Develop policies to favour local businesses over giant chain retailers.
  6. Protect culturally significant businesses and business districts such as the Punjabi Market, Joyce-Collingwood and Chinatown using heritage designations. Relieve pressure on these areas by expanding commercial space across the city.
  7. Allow light industrial like dry labs or artisans to mix with commercial, office and retail zoning to free up space for traditional manufacturing, warehouses and industrial shops.
  8. Offer combined live-work industrial and residential zoning to uses like art spaces that do not produce noise or air pollution.
  9. Strengthen efforts to protect existing industrial and commercial land and allow greater density on these lands to reduce sprawl and create well-paying jobs.
  10. Respect the Metro Vancouver Industrial Land Reserve within Vancouver, work to protect industrial lands across the region and lobby for a provincial industrial land reserve.
  11. Bring more hotel rooms to Vancouver by allowing them in more neighbourhoods and require some large developments to include hotels to promote tourism. This will also create more unionized jobs for hotel workers.

8. In May 2020, City Council approved a goal of transforming 11% of road space into “people friendly public space.” What are your thoughts on the implementation of this ‘road reallocation’ direction? Would you change anything?

Very little progress has been made on this goal because Ken Sim and ABC aren’t allocating funds to this in budget processes and probably because they haven’t made staff feel like they would have their backs if staff do reallocate road space to “people-friendly public space”. Vancouver has so much untapped potential to create vibrant public spaces but little political will. If I earn your trust and your next Councillor, I would be so excited to lead on this! We need leader to have the creativity and drive to collaboratively create spaces for people to live and enjoy and for our communities to thrive.

9. The City is currently moving ahead with the dissolution of the elected Park Board. How do you think Vancouver’s parks should be governed and stewarded?

The potential dissolution of the Park Board is a deeply unpopular move and there are lots of folks who I’ve met on the doors who are concerned about this undemocratic measure by the Mayor and ABC. Our Park Board has maintained our parks free from private development for over 100 years – and our parks should stay that way. We at OneCity believe in local democracy. If there are improvements to be made to the functioning, funding, or processes of the Park Board then those changes should be rooted in meaningful consultation and transparent decision-making. Right now this proposal by the Mayor and ABC doesn’t accomplish either. This move by the Mayor seems to be unfounded and personal, which begs questions about why is the Mayor so interested in absorbing the Park Board into City Hall? Is it for future private development? I and OneCity stand opposed to the undemocratic elimination of the Park Board – our city deserves better.

10. Creating, maintaining and programming public space takes resources. Does the City do enough to fund placemaking and public space initiatives? Is there anything you would do differently?

We need to have a good look where we put our money. Former Vancouver Chief Planner Brent Toderian is fond of saying that “The truth about a city’s aspirations isn’t found in its vision. It’s found in its budget”. Ken Sim talked a lot about finding efficiencies and cost savings, but we’ve seen historic property tax increases with little progress to show for it in terms of infrastructure and services. As I knock on doors I am listening carefully to Vancouver residents’ suggestions about things City Hall does that could be reduced or streamlined. I know what really makes a city “vibrant” and I can’t wait to put my extensive experience working in business and government, my experiences in living in different cities around the world and my many years of experience as a road safety and community advocate in Vancouver to work for better public spaces for everyone in Vancouver!

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