The Larger Study
The Ideas Competition is a component of the public consultation program for the Eastern Core Strategy. The purpose of the ideas competition is to engage the public, as well as local and international designers and urbanists, to think creatively about the future of the viaducts and the False Creek Flats in the Eastern Core. The best ideas will be selected by a panel of experts representing the fields of architecture, urban design, acadamia and sustainability. A People’s Choice award will also be selected by the public through online voting between November 21-25, 2011. The winning submissions will be celebrated at a joint event hosted by the City of Vancouver and SFU’s City Program.
The best and most applicable ideas generated through the competition may become part of the ideas “synthesis” as shown in step 3 of the diagram above.
Those members of the public who choose not to enter the ideas competition will have other opportunities to shape the future of the viaducts and the Eastern Core. Through the study process, the staff team will be meeting with representatives from the surrounding areas, local business owners, land owners and their representatives, transportation interests, and other stakeholders. The purpose of the meetings will be to hear perspectives on the challenges and opportunities, and to get feedback on initial thinking. The perspectives and ideas gathered through these meetings will also become part of the ideas “synthesis”.
The City will hire urban design consultants to generate a variety of conceptual designs for public review. The consultants will study a range of options from retention to full removal, as well as a number of partial removal scenarios. These options, will be available for public review and comment at open houses in the coming months.
The public will be invited to comment on the ideas and directions for the Eastern Core, as well as viaduct options, at public open houses. Feedback from those open houses will be used to refine the directions for the Eastern Core and the viaduct options.
To ensure that the challenges and opportunities are considered with 'fresh eyes', the City will engage a panel of local and international urban designers. This 'peer review' will take place following the synthesis to ensure that the best package of ideas and directions are presented to the public in the New Year.
In February 2012, the viaducts options will feed into the City's Transportation Plan update public process. Work on the Eastern Core Strategy will continue into the spring, once questions around the viaducts have been resolved.
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