Neighbourhood Spaces and Places Workshops

Planning for Places and Spaces in Victoria's Neighbourhoods.

THE CHALLENGE

As the City of Victoria moves away from neighbourhood plans towards a “One City” Official Community Plan (OCP) there is a need to identify key directions for each neighbourhood of Victoria so that its special charm is maintained, even while it evolves under the city-wide OCP framework. Because the James Bay, Oaklands and Jubilee neighbourhooods were without recent neighbourhood plans, there was a need to better understand the spaces and places that are important to the community - and what opportunities for enhancement might be reflected within an updated OCP. With this goal in mind, the community was engaged to further the planning for public spaces, land use and urban design in these neighbourhoods.

THE RESPONSE

The City hired Modus as one of multiple consultant teams with expertise in community engagement, urban design and open space planning to facilitate dialogue with the community. Through a series of workshops, ‘Big Moves’ for each neighbourhood were identified to strengthen area-wide connectivity, sociability, and overall community ‘completeness.’ The workshop outputs – including conceptual plans, discussion notes and illustrations – helped shape and refine draft public realm, open space and land use policies for inclusion into the OCP.

Client

City of Victoria