The renewed square looks great, and we will be interested to see how the space is used – both formally for events, and informally, for everyday activities or a more casual nature. It’s a large plaza with some interesting design challenges – including a northerly orientation, and busy arterial streets on three sides. It will be intriguing to see what sorts of anticipated – and unanticipated – activities take place in this renewed square. One thing is for certain: the redesign is an improvement on where things were at just a few years ago.

Vancouver Art Gallery North Plaza – Concept Rendering, November 2015

Up next, the 800-block of Robson… the North Plaza’s more intimate counterpart. The redesign of this plaza started last year after Council voted to permanently pedestrianize the block. A design concept was presented to Council in December, and work is expected to begin in the not too distant future.

In the meantime, check out the new North Plaza and let us know what you think. Good public spaces always take on a life of their own – so pop by and tell us what you see going on there!

Here’s the media release from the City of Vancouver:

VAG North Plaza reopens as Vancouver’s most compelling public square

Upgrades to the North Plaza of the Vancouver Art Gallery are completing this week in time for the Jazz Festival on Saturday.

“The plaza to the north of the Vancouver Art Gallery is host to Vancouver’s most significant events and is a popular place for people to pass through, sit and relax, and meet one another,” says Paul Mochrie, Deputy City Manager for the City of Vancouver. “We at the City have the honour of maintaining this remarkable public gathering space, and we are excited to see how it will be used going forward.”

The new plaza complements Robson Square on the other side of the Art Gallery and the surrounding heritage buildings. The new fully accessible space enhances safety for large gatherings, improves flexibility for events and day to day use.

Design features include:

• A flexible space that can be used for solitary and small group use, as well as large events.
• A safe, inviting environment for formal and casual use.
• A surface with pavers that will be long-lasting and durable for heavy use.
• Full accessibility for all users.
• A continuation of the Hornby Street maple trees, with new trees added along the west side of the plaza.
• A flexible pavilion / bus stop on the east side which can be used during events and can accommodate future use as a food/beverage stand or tourist information centre.

The plaza redesign was led by Nick Milkovich Architects, HAPA Collaborative , and Matthew Soules Architecture, and construction was completed by Jacobs Brothers contractor.

Going forward, the plaza will be maintained and managed by the City of Vancouver, and event organizers interested in using it can apply through the City of Vancouver’s special events office.

Correction: An earlier version of this post quoted a City Media release that incorrectly referred to Hapa Collaborative as Hapa Collective. Further, the post suggested that the plaza was fully-reopened. Rather, it is being utilized for various events throughout the summer, but is still closed to everyday use while the remaining work is completed. Additional clarifying text was added around the potential usage of the site.

A quick post to let you know that City Council has just approved the creation of a permanent plaza on the 800-block of Robson. This move will pedestrianize this popular block, expanding Robson Square across the street right-of-way, and allowing for year-round programming to take place.

This is very exciting news, and we want to thank Mayor, Council and City staff for supporting this idea. This new and enhanced space will make a big contribution to public life in Vancouver. As Lon Laclaire, the City’s Director of Transportation noted: “it will be the premier plaza on the downtown peninsula.”

Council heard from about a dozen speakers, including the VPSN, several business associations, and community groups, in a discussion that ran over several hours. A lot of issues were raised around design, programming, stewardship, and transportation. These are all things that the City will be looking at through a design process that will unfold over the next year or so. (City staff noted that there will be further consultation on that, so stay tuned for future opportunities to share your ideas.)

In the meantime, a toast to the new plaza! After many years of discussion, and some great summertime experiments, it’s great to see things move forward with this important public space.

Photo credit: City of Vancouver. Corduroy Road. – 2013 summertime installation at 800-Robson.

The 800-block space has been the site of a popular temporary plaza for the last five summers. The current proposal would now keep the area car-free year-round.

This makes good sense. The block in question – all 90 metres of it – has more people walking on it than almost any other block in the city. It’s a lively one too: the site of innumerable events – from markets to protests to music festivals. The area is also a well-loved meeting spot, with some of the best people-watching opportunities in the city.

There are other benefits as well. For one, it has a more intimate feel to it than its larger cousin on the north side of the Gallery, benefiting from the mixed-scale of the surrounding architecture and the verdant landscaping that defines the Law Courts. There’s good sun as well – which always serves to animate a space. Consider, as well, the symbiosis that the site has with the surrounding cafes and restaurants that do a good, brisk trade at the hands of plaza users. Grabbing a sandwich or coffee and sitting on the Art Gallery steps is a true pleasure.

However, bisected by car-traffic as it currently is, this important public space has never reached its full potential. The presence of cars creates a barrier to programming, congesting the limited space and constraining its uses.

That’s why this proposal is so important. Permanently closing this space will be one a big step forward. It will open up the possibility of year-round programming – everything from the additional of more seating, tables and public realm features, to a broader array of events and activities.

There have been – and we have always noted this – fair points raised about the impact that pedestrianization will have on transit users and drivers, particularly those living in the West End. The proposed re-routing of the #5 bus goes some way towards resolving these challenges. It’s not a perfect solution, (we would have preferred a Burrard>Georgia diversion), but on balance it attends to many of the concerns that were raised. Similarly car drivers who are used to driving on this street will also need to plan new routes. We feel these are fair trade-offs to make in creating an enhanced plaza area that all residents and visitors can enjoy.

Pedestrianizing the 800-block is a great move – and we offer our complete support for this initiative. We hope you will too.

The proposal will be discussed at City Council next Wednesday, April 20. You can read the related staff report .

Please consider taking a few moments to share your thoughts on the idea with City Council. You can send them an email at mayorandcouncil@vancouver.ca.

Originally published April 13, 2016.

Unfortunately, it seems as though it’s only getting rainier: the overall annual number of high intensity rainfall days have increased here since the mid 1970s, likely an effect of urbanization and global climatic change. Climate change analysis predicts this trend, in tandem with rising sea levels, will continue into the future, so don’t put away those umbrellas anytime soon.

Increasing rainfall may present a problem for the water management of the city. In an urban environment where a lot of terrain is paved and impermeable, there is a limited number of places wherewater can infiltrate the ground. In turn, when sewers and storm drains can’t manage the amount of water entering them, they back up and urban flooding occurs. You can see examples of this every time we have heavy rain, and because of rising precipitation levels and intensities, this is becoming a more common occurrence. There are, however, cities with examples of compelling water systems as a means to remedy this for Vancouver to take inspiration from.

The climate in North-West Europe is also changing: which means more heavy and frequent rainfall, similarly to here in Vancouver. The Netherlands, typically low lying (most of the country is below sea level), is known for its many water-related challenges and inventive solutions for them.

Today, the increase in rainfall means many Dutch cities require water storage to ensure their sewer systems aren’t overloaded. One solution for this the sort of “Water Squares” created by Dutch design firm De Urbanisten. The following images are taken from their excellent website.

De Urbanisten’s squares are an inspiring case study of how to provide water storage within the city, to stop urban flooding and take pressure off the sewer system, all while improving urban public space. The squares were originally developed as a conceptual study to examine Rotterdam’s relationship with water, but one square – Benthemplein – has now been built, several designed, and another currently under development.

These gathering spaces are designed to be a useable space both when wet and dry: light rain will only fill parts of the square, but heavier rainfalls will fill up larger storage basins. In the case of Benthemplein, the space functions (when it’s not raining) as an urban space for people to exercise, play and linger. It contains three concrete basins of varying depths which are used as a skate park, a basketball court, and theatre seating in dry weather. During heavy rainfalls the basins fill with water through steel gutters and small waterfalls.

Water is held within the square until the rain has subsided. When the city’s canals have the capacity to take that water again, water from the square will discharge into the nearest waterway and the square makes room for its users once again.

Water squares may not be the only solution to urban flooding, but they certainly provide an inspiring example of coupling infrastructure with public space. They show us that necessary groundwork can double as a design element and become a part of the urban fabric.

You can see more about how the Benthemplein Water Square works here.

– By Nuala O’Donnell. All photos courtesy of De Urbanisten.

What about Vancouver? Should we be looking at a “water square”, or integrating this sort of infrastructure into our public spaces? Got ideas of your own? The VPSN is hosting Make it Rain: A Design Workshop for Rainy Public Spaces this coming Sunday, April 17. The event takes place at the Museum of Vancouver. You should attend! For more information, check out this article.

Later today, City Council will be discussing a report and recommendations that will have a number of implications for the City’s public plazas.

The report, written by the City’s Planning Department, focuses on Davie Village Public Space Improvements – and seeks Council approval for the final concept for Jim Deva Plaza (at Bute and Davie).

As we’ve noted in earlier posts, we’re quite supportive of this initiative. The new plaza will serve as a vibrant neighbourood gathering area for residents and visitors alike.

Importantly, the report also does two other things. First, it looks at the question of stewardship – and proposes a pilot strategy for the site that aims to help with maintenance, programming and other activities. Programs such as this, when properly developed and delivered, can be very helpful for enriching public spaces. Perhaps even more significantly, the report seeks Council approval to undertake a larger city-wide review of plaza stewardship, a process that the VPSN has committed to assisting.

Second, the report recommends some changes to several bylaws – including the Health Bylaw (no smoking in the plaza) and the Street and Traffic Bylaw. The latter regulatory change has some good aspects (e.g. prohibiting driving in the plaza), but also has one troubling aspect: it aims to prohibit use of the plaza “after hours.” In particular, the proposed text prohibits people from using the plaza “after hours” – between 11pm and 6am – under penalty of a $100 fine. The only thing you’re legally allowed to do after 11pm in this prominent space… is walk or bike through it.

We feel that this proposed amendment for plazas is a problem (as, for that matter, is the longer-standing precedent that exists within the City’s parks and Park Bylaw).

Public nuisance – after hours noise, disturbance, fighting, and a host of other forms of problem behaviour – is already disallowed through a variety of bylaws. This “new” bylaw therefore doesn’t do anything more to mitigate potential problems. What it does do is penalize legitimate nighttime users of a public space – including the sorts of users/activities illustrated in the City’s own rendering of the Plaza. All this, in a place (Davie Village) where there’s reason to assume that a bit more vibrant nighttime activity – not to mention ‘eyes on the street’ – would actually be desirable.

We’ve written to City Council to offer our support for the good stuff in the Council report — and to request that the proposed “after hours” amendment to the Street and Traffic Bylaw be dropped. An excerpt of our letter is found below.

…the VPSN is very supportive of the proposed design for Jim Deva Plaza. We’ve participated in the process of developing the concepts for the site and are pleased with the results. The City is to be commended for this important contribution to the West End neighbourhood. We are especially glad to see improvements proposed to the public bathroom feature.

Our organization also supports the move to establish a stewardship strategy for this plaza – as a test site and in advance of developing a similar strategy for other new and existing publically owned plaza areas in the city.

Over the past few years, the VPSN has had a chance to research a number of approaches to plaza stewardship – and while the models (and their application) vary, the point remains that a proactive plan for programming, maintenance and community involvement can play a key factor in the success of plazas and squares.

To this end, the VPSN is proud to be able to support the development of a larger stewardship strategy, and will contribute a minimum of $3,500 in-kind research and event planning to help with the development of this strategy in 2016.

The last point we wish to raise today is with regard to a component of the staff recommendations that we do not support.

While there are several regulatory changes being contemplated that make sense, the present staff report recommends at least one change to the City’s Street and Traffic Bylaw that we feel is problematic.

In particular, staff are proposing a new regulation that would disallow being in a plaza (Jim Deva plaza, or any City Plaza) “after hours” (e.g. 11-6pm) – “except for the purposes of traversing” the space. The regulation comes with a proposed fine of $100 for anyone caught and charged with violating this section of the bylaw.

We recommend that this component of the proposed changes to the Street and Traffic bylaw be struck from the revisions. Not only is it at odds with the goal of open, inclusive public space, but it also runs counter to the spirit of some of the proposed “guiding principles” for Jim Deva plaza – e.g.

• “The plaza should be clean, safe and well-lit with a sense of security in the space any time of day or night.

• The plaza should be an inclusive, welcoming and inviting destination in the West End for residents, workers and visitors of all ages and abilities, and should be public space at all times with no fees charged to get in.”

We understand that the likely concern relates to matters of noise and nuisance; however, these (and other relevant concerns) are already dealt with in existing regulations.

The net result is that the additional element of regulation will unduly penalize legitimate users of the new Jim Deva plaza, as well as other plazas that will be covered through the bylaw…

UPDATE (December 16, 2015):

City Council heard from speakers on the various recommendations contained in the staff report. The design concept was approved – which we support – as were a number of other important measures (see minutes). However, while there was some discussion about the amendments to the Street and Traffic Bylaw, Council ultimately opted to approve a motion that instructs the Director of Legal Services

to prepare amendments to the Street and Traffic By-Law, the Health By-Law, and the Ticket Offences By-Law, generally in accordance with Appendix A of the Administrative Report dated December 4, 2015, entitled “Davie Village Public Space Improvements”, to regulate activity in Jim Deva Plaza.

While we are disappointed with this decision, we understand that there will still be an opportunity to make the case about the particular aspects of the amendment that we are concerned about. We will be posting more on this in early 2016.

You can find the market in the sub-area (the spot normally occupied by the skating rink). It’s a nice return to some of the retail plans that were proposed for the space when it first opened in the 1970s (before UBC was on the scene).

With the Province now on board with animating this space (they’re the ones behind this new venture), the rationale supporting the creation of a permanent, street-level expansion to the square just got even stronger. Imagine: a two-level, appropriately programmed square that can function rain or shine. The new artisan market takes part way there! Next step? Closing and programming the 800-block of the street.

Your job this summer? Go support a local artist… and help to make this a popular place in the process!

A quick update from today’s City Council session. The motion to turn the 800 block on Robson into a public square has been referred to one of Thursday’s Standing Committee meetings – either City Services and Budgets (9:30am), or Planning & Environment (2:00pm). UPDATE: The motion will be discussed at the City Services and Budgets Meeting (December 2, 9:30am). 

This is a good step – because it means that the motion will now be formally debated. It also means that there is still time for you to have your voice heard on this important initiative – either by sending Mayor and Council a note of support, or by signing up to speak in person on Thursday.

Tonight’s meeting itself was revealing, and gives some idea about the type of discussion that may take place a couple of days from now. Our guess is that, for a variety of reasons, the wholesale adoption of this motion is not going to be as straightforward as some people in the community have envisioned.

For example, members of COPE have expressed some reluctance to support the motion because they feel that it might be redundant. In April of this year, one of their Councillors (David Cadman) introduced a motion that asked for “Saturday and Sunday closures of Robson Street, as during the Olympics” (something the VPSN supported at the time). It’s not clear if this concern will be mitigated during the debate. (Our position on this is that the present motion – asking for the investigation of a permanent closure – appears to be sufficiently different in both scope and geography).

At the same time, there will also likely be a push by Vision Councillors to locate this motion within a larger discussion of Olympic legacies. This has some merit, given that staff were requested (in March 2010) to report back to Council with information on the ways the City could sustain a number of Olympic-style activities (including the streetcar, sports activities and more). There was also some discussion, though not explicit at the time, of public space components being included in this — and indeed, Councillor Cadman’s motion was later tacked on to the work City staff were directed to undertake in this regard. The report has not yet been presented to Council.

We feel that the present motion is actually complementary to both public space programming (a la Cllr. Cadman’s motion) and a larger Olympic legacies discussion. However – and this is key – it also needs to be looked at in and of itself.

Not only is the public space itself very clearly defined under the present motion (a specific, key block vs. “Robson Street”), but what is being asked for is a closure and transformation of the space rather than a temporary Summer Spaces style of programming). We feel that this is an important distinction, because a permanent closure will require a different portfolio of planning, design and resourcing activities.

But more to the point, securing Robson Square is a hot opportunity – because the block in question is presently closed for construction and has already changed traffic patterns in the area. The ‘window’ that this affords is not particularly large. The ideal situation, we feel, is to close the space immediately after the Province’s renovation work is completed. That way, it can be more easily be transitioned into a different use — much the way the Dunsmuir viaduct lane was repurposed for a bike lane (after being closed to car traffic for some time).

For this reason we feel that the best direction Council could take on Thursday would be to direct staff to undertake the appropriate resourcing planning to get the site lined up and secured now, while also directing staff to incorporate the site as a “Quick action” component of an expedited Olympic legacies report. Any work to enhance the space (design work, fundraising, etc.) can then be done in a more involved fashion under the banner of a range of City initiatives (including Olympic Legacies, Greenest City, the upcoming Transportation Plan, and so forth).

How you can help. If you haven’t already done so, please take a moment to write a letter or email to Council in support of this motion. Encourage others to do the same! Write a short note expressing your support for the creation of a permanent square on the 800 block of Robson, and the closure of Robson Street between Hornby and Howe. It would also be helpful to note in your letter that securing the space would be a good first step in realizing a number of Olympic legacies and public space goals – but that timing is of the essence on this one.

Council can be emailed at mayorandcouncil@vancouver.ca.

If you have the time to present your thoughts in person, consider getting on the speakers list by contacting the City Clerk’s office. Phone: 604.873.7276. Email: mayorandcouncil [at] vancouver.ca.

MEDIA COVERAGE

• Vancouver Courier – “City councillor floats downtown public square plan” – December 1, 2010
• CTV News – November 30, 2010 (sorry, couldn’t figure out how to link to the specific clip, but it’s online under BC news.
• City Caucus – “Reclaim Robson Street as a people place” – November 30, 2010
• 24 Hours – “A recipe for instant soul downtown Vancouver” – November 30, 2010
• Vancouver Observer – “A public square for downtown Vancouver” November 27, 2010
• Metro – A Eurostyle square for Robson – November 26, 2010