How are public spaces designed? And who for? How has Covid-19 impacted the ways we interact with our public spaces?
In Summer 2021, 25 young people gathered weekly to learn about these questions and reimagine the region as a part of the summer cohort of City Shapers: Public Space!
They heard directly from professionals that work in city planning, design, and public space activation about how cities work, how decisions are made, and how to get involved. They worked closely with other like-minded young people to evaluate and submit recommendations for a public space that was facing one or more pressing issues or challenges.
PROGRAM OVERVIEW
City Shapers is an experiential, civic education program for Metro Vancouver youth ages 18-30. Each cohort explores pressing urban issues, with an emphasis on the municipal level and local decision-making. Guest speakers and presenters include professionals, elected officials, city staff, and community leaders.
This program follows CityHive’s “Knowledge-to-Action” framework, allowing youth to gain a deeper understanding of the program theme before putting their learning into action through the development of group projects.
The 2021 Summer cohort of City Shapers marked the fourth iteration of this program. Participants explored the theme of public space – learning from professionals and organizers, and developing local, place-based projects. By the end of the program they learned about how cities operate, how public spaces are designed and planned, and who some of the many stakeholders are in our public realm. They also developed and implemented creative, solutions-oriented project tied to a local public space in Downtown Vancouver or the City of Surrey.
Learn more about past projects and cohorts: Cohort 1, Cohort 2, Cohort 3
SESSIONS
Weekly on Wednesdays, 5:30-8:30pm PT
Jun 23 to Aug 25, 2021
Session 1: Welcome Night – June 23rd
Session 2: Cities 101 – June 30
Session 3: Public Space 101 – July 17
Session 4: Complicating Public Space – July 14
Session 5: Project Ideation – July 21
Session 6: Project Feedback – July 28
Session 7: Project Planning – Aug 4
Session 8: Project Implementation Prep – Aug 11
Session 9: Event Week! – Aug 18 (project implementation)
Session 10: Debrief & Cohort Wrap-up – Aug 25
This program was made possible by the generous support of the Real Estate Foundation of BC and the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association.
