Connected City, Potentials for Affordable HousingPresentation Transcript

1. The Connected City: A Home For Everyone

2. The Connected City and You: Re:THINK HOUSINGThe Connected City is a starting place
forrethinking affordable housing within a widercontext.Transportation arterials, jobs, greenways
andurban habitat lead us to imagining a variety ofhousing forms interacting in relation to
aneighbourhoods unique characteristics.The Connected City: A Home for Everyone,invites you
to conceptualize new affordablehousing opportunities based on forward,outside-the-box thinking
thinking that remainsconnected to uniqueness of place, relevant toVancouvers collection of
neighbourhoods, andinterconnected by a synthesis of arterials.
3. Affordable Housing: Making the Connection Vancouvers economy depends on attracting and
retaining talent. Affordable housing of all types, including market rentals, is essential to the Citys
current and future competitiveness. John Tylee, Director of Policy and Research Vancouver
Economic Development Commission
4. The Connected City: The City Players Elected Officials may mandate innovation of Civil Servants
and Departmental1 best housing affordability practices, as well as 6 regulatory
efficiencies/responsiveness while creatively Administrators who can substantively influence
utilizing civic landholdings/assets. application for approvals through the interpretation of
prevailing regulations and policies. Responsible for reconciling market driven initiative with local
aspirations2 Development Industry may collectively reflected in Council approved policy in a way
that reinforces influence the volume of "residential product" available at the identity of respective
neighbourhoods and city overall. any point in time, the cost of land with respect to supply and
demand, acceptable soft costs including marketing Construction Industry are well positioned to
and commissions, the responsiveness of product to demographic trends and ethnicity, the quality
of exterior 7 inform the market generally about building systems, building systems, the quality of
interior fixturing and product quality and longevity, locally available products and integrated
private amenities, and most importantly systems, and certain economies that might be helpful
whether the market is interested in taking the short or towards housing costs. long view with
respect to affordability challenges. Financial Industry can collectively influence Design
Professionals, when given creative 83 lending practices for large and small, development
initiatives while also setting profitability thresholds/ opportunities, can produce innovative projects
that reflect their ability to reconcile varying, and competing, expectations for return on
investment. design and technical constraints. Academics are uniquely positioned to challenge
the Real Estate Marketing Industry is the 9 design of cities and can be responsive and informed
with4 intermediary between the risk takers (Development respect to relevant precedents and
achievements that may Industry/Design Professionals/Financial Industry) and influence local
outcomes. The Market. Local Community knows the most about local The Market prefers
certainty over innovation and is5 context, urban pattern, history, what been lost and is 10
conflicted with respect to its focus on the creation of missing, and opportunities for placemaking
reflective of investment vehicles vs creating more personal attachment distinct neighbourhood
identity. to homes in neighbourhoods for the longer term.
5. The Connected City: Arterials Concept 1 Interconnected Places: Use the framework of our
arterials to both connect and distinguish urban places Vancouvers existing urban structure,
based on the original streetcar city pattern, is a gift. This rational grid provides an armature for
connectivity, proximity and immediacy. While simple in its orientation and spacing, the grid allows
for distinctive opportunities for compact living across the city. The grid framework can
accommodate a doubling of people and jobs, while enhancing the signature of place in our city.
In this way, life in the city becomes more convenient as it becomes more sustainable - everything
is much closer at hand within much more diverse and complete neighbourhoods. As Vancouver
adds population and jobs it creates a city of connected yet distinct neighbourhoods.
6. The Connected City: Jobs Concept 2 Strategic Green Jobs: Locate and integrate thousands of
new green jobs. Our prevailing urban industrial lands enjoy immediate access to water andrail
services. Like the urban grid structure, these lands are a gift. Vancouvers pattern of large,
contiguous employment areas connected to the arterial grid and interwoven with dramatic natural
features, will strategically position our city for green economy competitiveness. This plan
celebrates this opportunity and also introduces new smart jobs zones in proximity to the airport
and the University of British Columbia. This concept brings green jobs close to home for
Vancouverites.
7. The Connected City: Greenways Concept 3 A Green Grid: An environmental network equal to
the transportation network. Building on the achievement of Vancouvers distinctive greenways,
this plan concept expands the idea by interconnecting all parks, schools, natural features and
local food opportunities through a system of green streets. This simple, and easily
implementable strategy, is actually not new. The original streetcar city anticipated this idea when
schools and parks were initially assigned locations generally equidistant within the hearts of
residential districts. It will require strategically located streets be re purposed for green and social
functions. Creating green streets will help build social capital through participatory involvement at
the block scale while at the same time creating continuity throughout the city.
8. The Connected City: Habitat Concept 4 Continuous Habitat: A major new system of accessible
natural areas and parks in underserved districts. We are a city in nature with continuous water
adjacency on three sides. Given this gift, we have a responsibility to demonstrate best practices
for the creation of new habitat towards the enhancement of biodiversity in an urban setting. Our
plan declares that this can be done! Our concept highlights zones of latent opportunity where
connected networks of natural areas and parks could be restored, expanded, and linked. We
recommend the commissioning of required technical work to more clearly identify and implement
these critical locations involving additional stream daylighting, augmented by more practical
green streets centered on continuous bioswales. The result of this initiative will be the creation of
a world class network of new, revived, and expanded green amenity features in underserved
neighbourhoods.
9. The Connected City: Synthesis Synthesis. Vancouver 2050: A Convenience Truth The synthesis
of these four simple ideas is an elegant and complex, yet clearly implementable plan framework.
It will accommodate a doubling of our population while achieving an 80% reduction in GHG
production. We have anticipated an aging population in our work and have accommodated this
shift through providing thousands of age-appropriate units in highly accessible and convenient
locations. We have exploited latent opportunities for ecological restoration to create a new
interconnected green framework signature for under-served parts of the city. We have more
evenly distributed work places so they will be closer to homes and synergize with other uses.
The tens of billions of dollars of new investment represented here provides the leverage to insure
affordability goals are met and that enough capital is generated to fund new public amenities in
measure with population growth and demographic change. In short, the plan shows a way to
save the planet by making our city more convenient; a more convenient city within which to
move, to shop, to work, and to raise a family - all the while reducing our environmental footprint.
The Greenest City truly is the Convenient City.
10. Evolving: History of Vancouver Form Changes to one area of the city do not happen in isolation
of space and time. By looking at the history of the city, it is clear that population characteristics
influence city development. It is also clear that the character of Vancouvers diverse
neighborhoods is strong. As we turn towards the future, it is imperative that we consider the
legacy of Vancouvers history and the character of its neighbourhoods.
11. Evolving: New Vancouver Neighbourhoods
12. Evolving: New Vancouver Neighbourhoods
13. Connected City Housing Form: On Arterial Focused While simple in its orientation and spacing,
the grid allows for distinctive opportunities for compact living across the city. The grid can
accommodate a doubling of people and jobs, while enhancing the signature of place in our
city. (A Convenience Truth)
14. Connected City Housing Form: On Arterial Focused
15. Connected City Housing Form: Off Arterial FocusedThe Spaces In Between New, small-scale
housing types for areas just off arterials seek to reflect single family attributes, affordability and
developability, and neighbourliness. (Patricia St. Michel) Source: Patricia St. Michel
16. Connected City Housing Form: Off Arterial FocusedThe Spaces In Between
17. The Connected City and You: re: THINK Design CompetitionGO TO:vancouver.ca/rethink to
submit your ideas on howto Connect the City with new Affordable Housingre:THINK
Resources:An Exploration of Housing
Types:http://dev.vancouver.ca/housing/rethink/pdf/NewHousingTypes2003.pdfA Convenience
Truth:http://www.urbanstudio.sala.ubc.ca/2010/book%20templates.htmlElements db:
http://elementsdb.sala.ubc.ca/