Given these propositions, the VPSN suggests that the City of Vancouver remove or repurpose existing non-compliant billboards and facilitate a comprehensive plan for both digital and ordinary billboards. The VPSN is asking for:

1. Enforcement of existing Sign Bylaw to remove non-compliant billboards

2. Broad, inclusive public consultation/review of proposed revisions to the Sign Bylaw

3. Consideration on the place of digital signage and other emerging technologies in the city.

More than 50% of billboards in Vancouver are non-compliant; they are located too close to residential areas, adjacent to bridges or public transit or are too big or too bright too often.

If a neighbour was playing obnoxiously loud music, would you be offended? The likely answer is yes. You may ask them to turn it down, or perhaps phone the City to stop the racket. This is noise pollution and collectively we have agreed that certain rules should be followed in order to make everyone a little happier.

What about visual pollution? Would you complain if your view of the mountains was blocked by an advertisement for yogurt or a new juice? The answer is likely yes. Unknown to many people is the fact that the City of Vancouver has a sign bylaw limiting the size, brightness and location of billboards.

Also unknown to many people more than half of all billboards in Vancouver are non-compliant; they are located too close to residential areas, adjacent to bridges or public transit or are too big or too bright, too often. It’s just as if we are surrounded by neighbours playing loud music and the enforcement officers are not answering the phone.

In 2003 the City of Vancouver approved a tough new sign by-law that would limit the number and location of billboards in public space. Included in this bylaw was a five year time limit for removing non-compliant billboards. In 2008 this limit expired and rather than issuing violations the City decided to suspend and review the sign bylaw following the 2010 Olympics.

This review should be complete sometime this year. However, in the interim new outdoor advertising technology has entered the market including programmable digital billboards. How should these technologies be allowed in public space? How could citizens and the city derive public benefits? Who should own these spaces?

Like loud music at concerts, there is perhaps a time and place for billboards and digital signage in the city. However, that time and place needs to be decided on by the citizens of Vancouver, not by private or corporate interests. Civic authorities need to enforce existing rules and consider how to integrate outdoor signage into a vibrant and beautiful city.

The Big Ideas are 12 Priority Areas we see as an early release of the VPSN Manifesto on public space policy. We’ve made online access to the Routemap 2012-2014 and the original Manifesto 2008-2011.To learn more about this initiative and to get involved, please write us an email.

One of the new PavCo digital billboards. January 2012.

The new digital billboards installed around BC Place Stadium have been causing no end of headaches for nearby residents. The billboards are enormous – many times the size that would be allowed under the City’s Sign Bylaw – and they’re very bright. So bright, in fact, that one resident nearby told us that at 2:00am he can now read in his bedroom without any additional bedside lights whatsoever.

The signs were installed by PavCo, a Provincial Crown Corporation of the Ministry of Jobs, Tourism and Innovation, following the renovation of the stadium. PavCo replaced a set of older, smaller digital billboards in roughly the same location – plunking the new ones down, it would seem, with nary a whit of forewarning or consultation.

The previous digital billboards – pre-renovation. April 2008.

Needless to say, people living nearby – particularly on the west side of the stadium – have been trying to get the billboards removed for some time. They’ve even started a blog on the subject, documenting the challenges they’ve encountered.

The City is also irked by the gargantuan signage. The Mayor wrote a letter to Minister Pat Bell, but it appears not to have resulted in much change.

Unfortunately for the City, the fact that these signs are located on a provincially-owned property means there’s a bit of jurisdictional conundrum. From a legal perspective, it doesn’t appear that the City can enforce the provisions of the municipal Sign Bylaw as a means to reign in the nuisance factor. That being said, it can, and has, asked PavCo to act in the spirit of good neighbourly relations and respect the provisions of the Bylaw. (It’s worth noting that it’s not clear if the intent of the City’s initial request was to encourage PavCo to reduce the size of the signs, remove them all together, or simply to eliminate the increased nuisance that comes from the brightness of the signs at night. We hope it was more than just the latter).

In any event, the issue of the PavCo signs is to be considered at City Council next week. Councillor Geoff Meggs has put a motion on notice that will be considered on Tuesday, January 17 @ 9:30am. The motion asks for “a clear action plan by PAVCO to bring the signs into compliance with City standards.”

If you’ve got a position on this issue we encourage you to make your voice heard by emailing geoff.meggs [at] vancouver.ca and mayorandcouncil [at] vancouver.ca. The motion will likely be referred to one of Council’s Standing Committees later in the week. If this happens members of the public will also be able to make a short presentation in person (5 minutes).

Here’s the motion from Councillor Meggs:

BC Place Stadium Digital Signs
MOVER: Councillor Geoff Meggs
SECONDER:
WHEREAS

1. residents around BC Place Stadium continue to report significant negative impact from the installation of large digital signs at three locations around the stadium;

2. these signs were not installed with advance public consultation and public input, as would have been required on a similar project under City jurisdiction;

3. efforts by Mayor Robertson to resolve public concerns through correspondence with Minister Pat Bell have not produced results;

4. claims by PAVCO that they have mitigated the impact and reduced brilliance and intrusiveness of the lighting have not produced the improvements sought by residents.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT Council direct the City Manager to advise PAVCO that the City requires a clear action plan by PAVCO to bring the signs into compliance with City standards and processes, failing which the City will seek further remedies to reduce neighbourhood impact.

Bursts of light eminate from the trees on Beach Avenue.

Month 12 of 12 has arrived, December is here! The days are shorter, but the streets are beginning to feel a bit brighter. The lights adorning the trees at Beach and Bidwell have been switched on, and there is less Movember and more anticipatory liveliness on people’s faces.

This year has been a big one for public space issues in Vancouver and around the world. Between now and the end of the month, we’ll be rolling out a series of posts and articles that review the happenings of 2011 and look ahead to 2012 and beyond.

In the meantime here’s a snap-shot of some current items and editorial stuff that we hope will be of interest….

• VPSN Winter Gathering – Saturday, December 10 @ 8pm
• Advancing the public space agenda at City Hall. The next three years.
• Ask Gregor – Spacing Magazine
• Urban Screens and CityBuilding- A public talk with Mirjam Struppek – December 2, 7pm at SFU Surrey. 
  Winter Wander: theVanierPark cultural hub – Saturday December 3
• Lessons in Urban Wayfinding – Thursday December 15, 2011
• GenWhy. Worklife. Help needed.
• Vancouver’s polar bears, Fraser salmon feature in new public art
• Funding – City of Surrey– small grant program

VPSN Winter Gathering – Saturday, December 10 @ 8pm

Bon fete! Join us for some end-of-year fun in the upstairs lounge of the W2 café (inside the Woodward’s atrium). There will be a jolly assembly of all the things you love most in life: food, drink, music, dancing, games, friends, quirky urbanists… and perhaps even a public space intervention or two, if the weather permits.

Details on the event can be found on Facebook and our blog. Colleagues, loved ones and neighbours welcome. The event is free, but for the sake of party planning please RSVP so we can get a sense of numbers. Looking forward to seeing you there!

:: Tell us you wouldn’t miss it for the world – events [at] vancouverpublicspace.ca
:: Facebook Event Page
:: VPSN Blog Winter Party Blog Post (additional details, etc.)

Advancing the public space agenda at City Hall. The next three years. 

As many of you know, the VPSN was paying close attention to the recent municipal election. In addition to maintaining our popular vancouvervotes.ca election blog, we also staged the second edition of Last Candidate Standing, our election debate mixer. This year’s event saw 30 mayoral and council candidates face-off in a rollicking, high-stakes event.

We wanted to say a BIG public thank you to ALL the candidates who ran. Regardless of one’s political orientation, signing up to put your name on the ballot takes a lot of guts and a lot of commitment. We’re grateful that there so many people (61 in for Mayor and Council alone) who were willing to consider representing Vancouverites at City Hall.

Now that the new Council, Park and School Board are being formed, we wanted to make an affirmation of our own. The VPSN will continue to work hard in advocating on behalf of a wide range of public space issues with all elected officials. We are, and always have been, non-partisan… and we use our position to champion the tenets of good urbanism with all parties and all politicians.

The next three years promise to be interesting ones for people interested in the city’s public realm. The Vision Vancouver platform gives a sense of the direction to come. In addition to the majority-elect’s commitment to improved and expanded pedestrian and cycling infrastructure, enriched greenspace, an expansion of street food, and more, we note one promissory item that will be of interest to many of you:

Create a new public square downtown. Building on the lessons of the 2010 Olympic Games, and the City’s ongoing consultations on the City’s Transportation 2040 plan, we will work to create a new public square in the downtown.

:: Read the Vision Vancouver platform (pdf)

Ask Gregor – Spacing Magazine

Our friends at Spacing Vancouver will be holding an in-depth Q & A session with Mayor Gregor Robertson that will be published in the magazine’s second National Edition.

They’re looking to make the process an inclusive one and are giving readers the opportunity to add to the list of questions and issues that they’ll be raising with the Mayor. Here’s your chance to pose a query via the Spacing team. Bike lanes? Laneway housing? Public realm? Future visions for the city? Send’em their way. (A disclaimer though: they won’t be able to ask every question directly and plan on teasing out common themes wherever possible). 

:: Submit your question by Monday, December 5 – Erick [at] spacing.ca.

Urban Screens and City Building – A public talk with Mirjam Struppek – December 2, 7pm at SFU Surrey.

With any luck the Province of BC will send representatives to this event. Their recent foray into video screens –four of them ring the newly reopened stadium – could use a serious re-think.

Screen installations, public projections, interactive facades and shop windows or networked communication-sculptures have emerged as a recent art form in the urban public space. They are a venue for creating new visual experiences and engaging cultures, as much as they might further the agendas of consumer culture.

But how do urban screens positively engage audiences and contribute to the experience of a civil society? What do they actually contribute to the character of their urban surroundings, and what is their potential for interaction and creating personal or shared experiences? This presentation will look at crucial issues such as rethinking content, ownership, infrastructure and the careful integration in the urban environment.

Note: This talk will be is preceded by the opening reception for Electric Speed (www.electricspeed.ca), a new work for the Surrey Urban Screen, taking place at the Churck Bailey Recreation Centre at 13458 – 107 A Avenue, (next to the Gateway Skytrain).

Winter Wander: the Vanier Park cultural hub – Saturday December 3

Vanier Park is a cultural hub that manyVancouver residents know little about, and on Saturday, December 3 the six cultural institutions that call Kitsilano’s biggest park home will be celebrating this hidden treasure with a significantly reduced rate for visitors.

Vanier Park is home to the Maritime Museum, the Museum of Vancouver, the H.R. MacMillan Space Centre, Bard on the Beach, Vancouver Academy of Music, and the City of Vancouver Archives– offering visitors a fascinating range of cultural experiences within easy walking distance of each other.

The Winter Wander in Vanier Park is a one day event in which Vancouverites and their families can enjoy a taste of what all Vanier Park’s cultural institutions have to offer for one rate that includes all venues (Note Bard on the Beach will be located at the MOV, as the tents are currently down). Adult admission will be just $5 to visit all locations, and children 16 and under will visit for free. Venues open at 10am and close at 5pm.

:: More info – Museum ofVancouver website

Lessons in Urban Wayfinding – Thursday December 15, 2011

As cities become denser and more complex, there is a growing need for cities to be livable, accessible, efficient and optimized to reduce carbon. Benchmark projects like “Legible London” have demonstrated how wayfinding design can effectively contribute to these goals through multidisciplinary collaboration and innovative partnerships.

Learn how a holistic approach to identity, brand and wayfinding can contribute to a cities’ competitive edge. Project innovations will include dynamic technologies, landscape, gateways, public art and placemaking. The lecture will also include how interior designers, architects, landscape architects, and exhibition designers can also engage in the urban realm.

11:30am to 2:00pm (Lunch is included). The Ironworks Studios,235 Alexander Street,Vancouver. SEGD Members: $20, SEGD Non-Members: $25, Students: $10.

:: More Information – http://www.eventbrite.com/event/1814682765

GenWhy. Worklife. Help needed.

Our friends at GenWhy Media are always coming up with cool projects. They say their focus is on youth engagement, but frankly their work does a great job of engaging just about everyone who sees it. Nice work for this local crew! 

Anyway, the GenWhy team is currently looking for a few volunteers to help develop a participatory public art project that will re-imagine the relationship between work and life. It’ll be part of the upcoming XYBOOM conference on youth unemployment. Riffing off of the work of artist/urban planner Candy Chang, the idea is to crowd-source aspirations on work/life balance through a free-standing text-based scupture that spell the phase “worklife”. That’s where you come in. 

:: To lend a hand – info [at] genwhymediaproject.com

Vancouver’s polar bears, Fraser salmon feature in new public art

Closer to home, two new public art installations are rolling out at various locations throughout the city. 

Polar Bear: Native to Vancouver by Tony Pantages launches December 5 on Canada Line video screens

Polar Bear: Native toVancouverby Tony Pantages launches December 5 and runs to December 18 on the Canada Line video screens. The piece is a tribute to the annual New Year’s Day Polar Bear Swim inVancouver. Started by Peter Pantages in 1920 with ten members, this is the oldest and largest Polar Bear Swim and is the genesis of the worldwide Polar Bear Swim movement. Tony Pantages, a third-generation Vancouverite and a filmmaker, attaches a personal history to this public tradition. For half a century his grandfather, Peter, took his daily dip in English Bay 365 days a year through sun, rain, snow, sleet and hail. Polar Bear: Native toVancouverpays homage to his grandfather Peter, father Tony Sr., and uncle Basil, who all appear in this 10-second film.

Polar Bear: Native toVancouverlaunches December 5 on the Canada Line subway video screens and on www.youtube.com/offonmain & www.facebook.com/pages/On-Main/2007124999695. 

New public artwork animates Knight Street corridor. (Community launch, December 3 @ 10:00am)

A 43-metre-long steel sculpture has joinedVancouver’s streetscape atKnight Streetand33rd Avenueas the newest addition to the City’s public art collection.

Abundance Fenced by Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas features a playful adaptation of contemporary Haida design and runs along the top of a concrete retaining wall besideKensingtonPark, serving as a decorative railing beside the pedestrian path. The piece was inspired by the plentiful 2010FraserRiversalmon run and Yahgulanaas sees the artwork as a tribute to the exceptional return and celebration of the resilience of the species. Yahgulanaas created the work in the Haida Manga style he developed which is a fusion of Northwest Coast First Nations design elements and Japanese graphic animation.

A community celebration of the work will be held on Saturday, December 3 at 10 a.m. in the Kensington Community Centre, Seniors’ Lounge,5175 Dumfries Street.

:: More info – Chisaki Muraki-Valdovinos, City of Vancouver- chisaki.muraki-valdovinos [at] vancouver.ca

Funding – City of Surrey – small grant program

Back to Surreyagain. The City has developed a small grant program which offers up to $3,000 to support planning, organizing and implementing projects that physically improve the appearance and engage residents with public spaces. Cool stuff – and not dissimilar to the City of Vancouver’s Neighbourhood Matching Fund Program, applicants match volunteer time (to implement the project) with city grant money. The money is then used to cover the hard costs associated with the project (supplies, materials, even food etc.). 

 :: More info – Patrick Klassen, Parks Planning, Research & Design, pklassen [at] surrey.ca

Meanwhile, on the other side of the world… a crowd gathers for New
Year’s celebrations at Mrs Macquerie’s Point in Sydney Australia.
Submitted by VPSN member Lisa M.

A late year greeting to all of you from the gang at the VPSN. This is it: day 365 of 2010 and we’re a mere few hours away from a brand new year. We hope you’re having a grand time with you various celebrations.

We wanted to take this opportunity to send you out a quick thank you for all your support this past year. 2010 has been an exciting one for us – and a busy year for public space related issues in the Vancouver. We had the opportunity to be involved in a great number of initiatives, and it’s been fun take this holiday period to reflect on the public space ‘scene’ in Vancouver over the past 12 months.

This time last year, Vancouverites of all political stripes were gearing up for the Olympics, planning a range of activities. In addition to some pre-Games advocacy work around Olympic gathering areas, corporate signage and the deployment of surveillance technology, the VPSN also launched our blog during the 1^st month of 2010 – using it to report out on urban issues – starting with the Game’s related transformation of the City. Since that time, we’ve seen our readership grow in leaps and bounds… and it’s been a great tool to connect with residents of the City about civic affairs issues.

2010 was also a big year on the active transportation front. The Olympic transportation plan marked a watershed moment for shaping urban mobility during the Games. But that was only the start! The Vancouver Courier recently declared their ‘Newsmaker of the Year’ to be the bicycle – no small tribute to the many initiatives that have taken place concerning the humble two-wheeler this year. Chief amongst these was the installation of the Dunsmuir viaduct separated bikelane in the Spring of this year and the more recent opening of the Hornby Street separated lane. These weren’t controversy free, to be sure, and yes, the process could have been handled better… but regardless, we feel that they will help to put Vancouver on the path to a more sustainable, healthful future.

Pedestrian issues have also begun to come to the fore and we’ve been working to support these where possible. There been an increasing focus on improving the pedestrian experience, the walkability of neighbourhoods, and attending to issues of pedestrian safety. And with the City focusing on “green mobility” as part of its Bright Green Future initiative and planning to develop a new Transportation Plan in 2011, this positive trend will only continue. Our prediction? 2011 will be to pedestrian issues, what 2010 was to the bicycle. Just watch what happens when the international Walk 21 Conference landing in town in November.

Animating the city’s public spaces has always been part of our strategy to focus attention on the public realm. This year was no exception! In the summer time we transformed Granville Street into a giant percussive ensemble with our Stick it to the Streets event. Later in the year, we were pleased to roll out two of our annual favourites: in September we participated in our third Park(ing) Day celebration – that international day of parking space reclamation (this year we had sites in Davie Village and at City Hall). Then in late October, we had our annual Halloween transit party – a massive costumed take-over of the Seabus. And then in November we managed to get 100 folks together on Vancouver’s coldest, snowiest day, to make a giant ‘ecological footprint’ as part of an international public art project.

In 2010 we continued to wear our advocacy hats on all aspects of Vancouver’s public space policy – from arguing against the deployment of surveillance cameras in schools to raising the alarm over new forms of corporate advertising, from to registering concern with increased fees for community-based events, to taking a stance against the proposal to extend the municipal vote to corporations.

We’ve also weighed in on site-specific spaces as well – we participated in the discussion around moving the Vancouver Art Gallery, developed new community gardens, completed an ethnographic film on Yaletown Park, and focused a considerable amount of resources towards advocating for a sufficient quantity and quality of public space (and other public benefits) as part of the development of Northeast False Creek. And of course there’s another item we’re very excited about: the push to transform the 800 block of Robson Street into a public square (a move that was recently supported by all three municipal parties!)

This was just a sampling of some of the things we were involved in last year. As with all our projects, the aforementioned initiatives gave us the chance to work with fantastic volunteers, amazing community organizations and stellar people in local government, schools and universities and the community at large. It’s an honour for us to be able to collaborate with Vancouver’s many excellent space-makers and urban enthusiasts. 

* * * * * 

VPSN Coordinators also took the first weekend in December to plan out some of our activities for 2011. Here’s a sneak peek of a few of the many things you can expect to see over the next 12 months:

• Where’s the Square II – stay tuned for our summertime animation of Robson Street – with a fantastic food-themed event.
• Vancouver Votes / Public Space Manifesto – 2011 is election year, and as with the last municipal contest, the VPSN will be developing a new manifesto and a number of election related events aimed at putting public space issues on the agenda. 
• Relaunching PubliCity – we’ve had an issue ready to go for a few months now… and we’ll be rolling this out in the first few months of 2011.
• Transforming Broadway – Due in January, our report on transforming Broadway into a Great Street will showcase exciting options for the future of Vancouver’s longest east/west corridor.
• Speaker Series / Backgrounders / Websites – We’ve been developing new backgrounders on public health, parking space reclamation, and greenspaces, to name a few. We’ll also be launching version 2.0 of our website, holding key speaker series events and a range of other open-source materials
• Collaborative ventures – We’ve got some exciting things lined up with the Museum of Vancouver and the Vancouver Art Gallery, and other projects in the hopper as well.

And there will be lots of other stuff coming as well… including all your favourite annual events, parties, film fest activities and more. 

Finally… don’t forget, the first big community opportunity to embrace public space takes place tomorrow morning, January 1, with the annual polar bear swim. Even if you don’t brave the chilly waters of English Bay yourself, the scene is a festive one.

The year begins and ends with celebrating in public space. Happy 2011 everyone! Very best wishes to you all.

Your friends at the Vancouver Public Space Network

Luckily, the VPSN has not one but two opportunities for you this evening.

1. Billboards, outdoor advertising and public space corporatization… Help us map out a strategy to deal with the expansion of outdoor advertising in Vancouver.
   
   6:30pm @ Kafka’s Coffee (on Main st., near Broadway). More info – Stephanie [at] vancouverpublicspace.ca
   
2. Halloween transit party planning. Halloween is just over a month away. Time to hunker down and plan this year’s costumed craziness. Lend a hand, come with ideas!6:30pm @ Trees Coffee – on Granville and W. Hastings (450 Granville St.) More info – quinn [at] vancouverpublicspace.ca

… And while you’re at it, don’t forget to register for the City/SFU/VPSN Greenest City Idea Slam – taking place this Friday, Oct 1 @ 7pm. Hosted by Bill Richardson and taking place at SFU’s Woodwards and featuring an all star cast of experts and entertainers. Reservations required at http://websurvey.sfu.ca/survey/64166248

• Friday, September 17 – Park(ing) Day
• Friday, October 1 – Greenest City Idea Slam (w/Image Contest & Design Jam)

VPSN MEETINGS & PROJECTS

• Wednesday, October 6 – Volunteer Orientation Meeting
• Monday, September 27 – Billboards & Corporatization Brainstorm
• Monday, September 27 – Halloween Transit Party Planning Meeting

ENGAGE: PUBLIC CONSULTATION OPPORTUNITIES

• Hornby Bike Lane Consultation

PUBLIC SPACE EVENTS

• Saturday, September 25 – Liveable Laneways Festival
• Wednesday, September 29 – Showcasing Urban Environmental Health Inequity
• October 4-7 – Gaining Ground Summit

VPSN PUBLIC SPACE FEATURE EVENTS

Friday, September 17 – PARK(ing) Day

It’s almost here! Join us for PARK(ing) Day this Friday as we transform two parking spots into temporary parks for the public good. Drop by and say hi or stick around and be part of the action!

For the third year running, the Vancouver Public Space Network will be participating in PARK(ing) Day – a global adventure that sees parking spaces transformed into public space playgrounds for young and old. Sound awesome? It is! This year, weather permitting, we will have locations active in the West End and at City Hall:

1. West End – 1218 Davie Street (SW Corner @ Bute). 9:30am – 5:00pm;
2. City Hall Councillors Parking (N side), 454 West 12th Ave. 11:30am – 2:00pm

:: More information – Simon Wong simon [at] vancouverpublicspace.ca
:: Join the Facebook Event Page to stay up-to-date

Friday, October 1 – Greenest City Idea Slam

We’re very pleased to announce our latest collaboration with the City of Vancouver and Simon Fraser University. The following is an excerpt from the official press release.

Green Ideas Sought for Vancouver’s Future; Top ideas chosen for panel review with CBC Radio’s Bill Richardson and Mayor Robertson

Building on the success of the “Talk Green to Us” campaign, the public is invited to participate in the on-line forum www.talkgreentous.ca to share ideas they want to put into action to help Vancouver become the greenest city. The public can also visit the forum to vote on their favourite ideas.

The most innovative and creative ideas with the most votes will be selected to be pitched to, and receive feedback from, a prestigious panel of experts facilitated by Mayor Gregor Robertson and Bill Richardson, host of CBC Radio’s Saturday Afternoon at the Opera and In Concert programs….

Hosted by the City of Vancouver, the Vancouver Public Space Network and the Simon Fraser University (SFU) City Program, the panel event will take place at the SFU Woodward’s Fei and Milton Wong Experimental Theatre. Poet laureate Brad Cran and musician Veda Hille will be providing entertainment while Jaime Kowal and Ryan Tomkinson will share art and photography… The public are encouraged to attend but must register for the event as space is limited: http://websurvey.sfu.ca/survey/64166248.

:: To see the complete press release check out the VPSN blog

Call for Artists and Creatives – Illustrate Our Transformation Into the Greenest City

Are you an aspiring artist, designer or photographer? The good folks at Green the City will be presenting a variety slide show of “Green City” themes as part of the aforementioned Oct 1 Greenest City event. They’ve got a call out for some artistic expertise and are looking for images that riff off of the theme “Where have we come from and where are we going?” Share your images and visual creations (archival mash-ups, conceptual renderings, photoshop madness… documenting Vancouver’s green past, present and future).

It’s easy to participate. Check out this month’s assignment below, and submit your images and artwork to www.greenthecityvancouver.com. The top-notch work that you submit will be broadcast live as part of the event!

:: To send in your work – submit [at] greenthecityvancouver.com

Design Nerds – Greenest City Jam

One final Greenest City gig that you ought to know about. Our good friends at the Vancouver Design Nerds will be hosting one of their ever popular Design Jam sessions this Friday (Sept 17). The goal of the evening will be to capture 20 Greenest City ideas, either new ones or improvements on existing ones on the talkgreentous.ca website. All ideas will be posted to the website by end of night. We’ll then ask you all to use your social networking powers to vote on your favourite ideas. Takes place 630-10pm at Recollective, 5 West Pender (Buzz 109)

:: More info – Design Nerds Facebook Event Page

VPSN PUBLIC SPACE PROJECTS

Monday, September 27 – Billboards & Public Space Corporatization

Our Corporatization Working Group is convening a meeting to brainstorm issues around the corporatization of public space – that is, the presence of billboards and outdoor signage, corporate branding and forms of privatization affecting Vancouver’s public realm. We’ll be preparing a discussion paper on the subject and we invite you to help us to think through the issues. The meeting takes place Monday the 27th of September at 6:30 pm. Location TBD.

:: For more information – stephanie [at] vancouverpublicspace.ca

Monday, September 27 – Halloween Transit Party Planning

The Public Transit Working Group will be meeting on Sep 27 and are looking for volunteers interested in helping us with our annual Halloween transit party. You remember that, don’t you? Crazy costumes, awesome tunes, lively transformation the region’s transit infrastructure? It’s coming again. Oh yeah. Meeting location TBD.

:: For further details – quinn [at] vancouverpublicspace.ca

Wednesday, October 6 – Volunteer Orientation Meeting

Join us for our monthly volunteer orientation and learn about opportunities to make Vancouver great! Session takes place at 630pm in Room 3047, SFU Harbour Centre, 515 West Hastings. Please RSVP.

:: More information or to RSVP – erin at vancouverpublicspace.ca

ENGAGE – PUBLIC CONSULTATION OPPORTUNITIES

Hornby Bike Lane Consultation

We believe that Hornby street is a crucial link in creating a substantive and comprehensive bicycle lane network that will increase ridership and safety and will provide benefits for residents and businesses alike. Not everyone agrees. Either way, this is a good chance for you to sound off on your feelings about the City’s transportation directions.

:: Have something to add? Email mayorandcouncil (at) vancouver.ca
:: City of Vancouver – Bike Vancouver webpage

PUBLIC SPACE EVENTS

Saturday, September 25 – Liveable Laneways Festival

Celebrate the transformation of a neighbourhood laneway into a cool space. This event showcases some excellent placemaking work being done in Mt. Pleasant. Meet at 8th and the Lane (just west of Main Street). With music, markets, a BBQ and more. in the laneway between Main and Quebec, from Broadway north to 7th Ave.)

While you’re there – stop by and say hi! The VPSN’s mapping team will be there gathering information for our community Green Map.

:: More information – Liveable Laneways Facebook Page

Wednesday, September 29 – Showcasing Urban Environmental Health Inequity: Insights from Vancouver, Winnipeg, and Toronto

You are invited to attend an animated final reporting on the community-based research DTES residents have completed since 2008 when a team of researchers from UBC partnered with the DTES Neighbourhood House and other local organizations.

Research focuses on understanding environmental health inequities in the city – with work going to support efforts to create a more “just” city. Takes place 1:00-5:00pm at the Downtown Eastside Neighbourhood House, 573 East Hastings @ Princess.

:: More Info/RSVP – Email Rebecca Haber – rhaber [at] interchange.ubc.ca

October 4-7 – Gaining Ground Summit: The Power of Green Cities to Shape the Future

The Gaining Ground conference will have a whole range of interesting workshops and side programs connected with the future of urban spaces. Check out the program here.

We’d also like to draw your attention to a couple of interesting looking sessions
:

“Walking the Talk-the Footprint for Active Transportation” – Workshop and Learning Lab (October 4 8:00am-3:30)

As part of the preconference offerings of the Gaining Grounds conference, Walk21 in association with Green Communities Canada is presenting a one day workshop at Simon Fraser University. Join local leaders, decision makers and leading global experts on walking environments and walkability in a full- day workshop exploring this foundation of Active Transportation. This exciting day consists of a working breakfast session with professional training on walking environments, followed by an on street hands-on walking audit, analysis, and in- depth discussion. Learn innovative best practices that can be used by you to make communities more walkable.
This session will be led by Dr. Rodney Tolley from Walk21, Jacky Kennedy from Green Communities Canada, and Paul Young, with Public Space Workshop. This workshop and learning lab is $75.00 for the full day, inclusive of breakfast and bagged lunch.

To register – http://www.gaininggroundsummit.com/shoulder_program.htm

Public Lecture on Walkability (October 4)

There will be a free public lecture at 6:00 to 8:00 at SFU on walking and walkability led by Paul Young.

Healing Cities (October 7)

Healing Cities is a part of the larger “Gaining Ground” summit. Register now for an opportunity to explore how cities can be healed, and also be healing places for all of us to inhabit. This exciting and integrative conference will bring together planners, developers, architects, engineers, transportation professionals, massage therapists, physicians, counsellors, energy healers, spiritual leaders, and you! This day of conference will help us learn and explore new ways to approach the task of healing cities. We certainly don’t have all the answers or even all the questions, and we need your input.

:: For more information: Gaining Ground Website

The changes are the end result of a package of commitments made by the Olympic bid partners (including the Province and City) to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in order to secure the Games. The commitments promised, in essence, a series of favourable marketing opportunities for the corporate sponsors that would be investing in the 2010 project – favourable, here, meaning big visual wallop combined with messaging exclusivity. Goodbye Cola wars, hello Coca-collosal.

The commitments were then set into regulatory motion late last year and early in 2010 when City Council rolled out a number of amendments to existing bylaws and controls (even requesting changes to the Vancouver Charter itself). In many cases, these changes suspended normal governance practices for the period of the 2010 Games.

And the murals? One set of changes was made to the Sign Bylaw – the tool through which City licensing officers and bylaw enforcement folks regulate the size, materials, placement and related details of almost any sort of sign that you can find in the city.

The result? The following are a few examples of what’s been installed throughout the city.

One of the biggest appears to be the 14-story building wrap at the TD tower (Georgia and Howe):

Another prominent mural ad covers off on the host province tourism message:

Some, like the Canadian Flag installed at the Hotel Georgia tap into the nationalist spirit, others, such as the murals wrapping Hudson’s Bay, or Canada Post (see below) feature prominent shots of the athletes, with corporate logos comprising a small part of the overall sign.

Here’s another one at the corner of Burrard and Hastings:

Incidentally, the massive signs and murals which now dot the downtown core are part of a one-two branding punch that saw VANOC purchase every available outdoor advertising surface in the region, billboards, bus shelters and more. All, ostensibly, under the International Olympic Committees request to protect Olympic sponsors from “ambush” marketing.

Thus, for the period of the Games, we have a reshaping of the branding iconography found in the Vancouver cityscape. On one hand the breadth of messages has shrunk considerably (only sponsor ‘voices’ can be heard), while on the other, the sheer size of these sponsor messages has grown on an Olympian scale.

The meeting will feature a slide-show and presentation by Marco D’Agostini, Planner with the City of Vancouver. Mr. ‘Agostini’s presentation will look at some of the work the City has been engaging in around billboards and signage.

For details on how to get to the meeting place, see the following map.

The Network’s Portfolio meetings have been going extraordinarily well over the last month or so. The initial idea for the working-group gatherings was to allow team members to prioritize key projects for the year. That much has been going better than expected and work is now underway on a bunch of initiatives – everything from new design backgrounders, to urban animation projects, to policy analysis, to mapping to guerrilla gardening reconnaissance and more. A synopsis of the active projects will be on-line in the next week or so, along with new web-pages for each of our nine portfolio/working groups.

Next week sees the last Working Group Prioritization meeting taking place:

Tuesday March 13 – Corporatization – Looking at billboard and advertising related concerns as well as project ideas around advocacy against the privatization of public space. The meeting takes place at Calhoun’s Coffee House – 3035 Broadway Avenue West at MacDonald at 7:00pm.

We also wanted to alert you to a couple of project specific meetings that will be taking place as well:

Monday March 12 & Friday March 16 – St. Patrick’s Day (Public Art WG) – We’re working on a plan to animate the Downtown area in a fashion similar to our Valentine’s heart-stamping excersise… minus the hearts and the mawkish sentimentality. This time it will be snakes! And maybe something even more ambitious. Our planning meeting is on Monday and our actual roll-out will be on Friday. This one will be big up fun! Locations to be announced.

Wednesday March 14 – Design Competition Planning meeting (Urban reDesign WG) – We’re currently in the planning phase of developing a collaborative public space design competition with our friends at ThinkCity. This meeting will review our proposal and develop a more elaborate work plan for the event. Takes place at 7:00pm at Rhizome (341 East Broadway at Main).

Thursday March 15 – Mapping Meeting (Communications WG) – The VPSN has already started on an ambitious surveillance mapping project over the last year. This year, we’re looking to expand the Network’s mapping activities with new tools and formats, as well as the possibility of GIS interfacing. This meeting will further shape this component of our communications portfolio. Takes place at 7:00pm in the Main and Broadway area, please RSVP for the address.

All meetings are open to the public; however we encourage people to RSVP so we can plan appropriately for seating and other details. To register for any of the sessions listed here, please send us an email at info@vancouverpublicspace.ca.

VPSN Coordinators Meeting and Big “Monthly” Gathering Workshop/Meeting

Because we love meetings so much (seriously – these are good gatherings – people laugh and joke, are respectful, collaborative and have never, ever, been known to refer to Roberts Rules of Order) we also have a couple more upcoming shindigs to let you know about:

Tuesday March 20 – VPSN Coordinator’s Meeting – A gathering for Portfolio Coordinators, folks on the Organizational Development Working Group and anyone else interested in Network administration and coordination activities. Time: 7:00pm. Location TBD.

Monday March 26 – VPSN Big “Monthly” Meeting & Workshop – Our first of the year, in fact! As per previous gatherings of this sort, we try to divide the meeting into a quick overview of VPSN activities (each portfolio coordinator will be giving a short update) and then a learning opportunity connected with an aspect of public space. Details on this event are being finalized and will be posted shortly.

Upcoming VPSN Projects of Note

Eggs in Space! In celebration of spring, and corresponding roughly with the dates of Easter, the “Events Committee” of VSPN will be organizing a public egg hunt in the city!

How we will do this, and what this will look like is up to the people who want to be involved. We need good ideas people to think up some good ideas about what the eggs might look like (plastic? wood? 2D? 4D?) and what we might do with them (messages? media? mystery?). And we will also need people to get out there with the eggs on the “day of” and make it happen.

If dressing up like a bunny was one of your new year’s resolution, you love painting pretty pictures on round surfaces, or you just like the idea of an egg hunt, get in touch with Surya at info [at] vancouverpublicspace.ca to be on the project team! Spring is coming!

New VPSN Design and Planning Backgrounders on EcoDensity & the Whitecaps/Central Waterfront Hub

EcoDensity Backgrounder – Our backgrounder on the City’s EcoDensity plans has been well-received (thanks to everyone for the complements). We even got a very nice plug on Dawn Paley’s Co-op radio show last Friday during her interview with our Urban reDesign Coordinator. For those of you still wondering what the EcoDensity fuss is about, check out our four-pager for a list of the pros and cons.

Whitecaps / Central Waterfront Hub Backgrounder – We’ve also released a new backgrounder this week to offer some commentary on the new Whitecaps stadium and Central Waterfront Hub development proposal. (More on this plan below).

Both backgrounders are available on our vancouverpublicspace.ca website under “Tools > Publications.”