The Vancouver Park Board, City of Vancouver, and landowner Concord Pacific are working together to create the Northeast False Creek Park, a space that is authentically Vancouver and that reflects our city’s rich heritage.
It’s a big plan that will revitalize Andy Livingstone Park, and expand and renew Creekside Park. It will also improve habitat for urban wildlife and the shoreline in False Creek. It will be a place to play, replenish, picnic, splash, and connect with others.
What's happening
What do you think of the updated park design guiding principles?
We enhanced our park design guiding principles, building on what we heard during our previous public consultations. We're also receiving input and confirming the principles with the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Nations, and park stakeholders.
Give your feedback on the updated guiding principles in our survey.
The survey closes on August 8. Your responses will help us refine the principles further, to guide the direction of the revised concept design.
Confirming the updated park design principles this summer will help us guide the revised park design. In fall 2018, we’ll hold a design workshop with all park stakeholders about our design explorations that reflect the design principles.
What we heard in Stage 3
Recap of Stage 2
We received a lot of interest in the draft concept plan released in June 2017. We have engaged with a wide group of stakeholders, including over 5,000 people so far. Here are the highlights of what we heard in Stage 2:
- Bigger waterfront park
- Design to be bolder, more unique and authentic design rooted in Vancouver
- Meaningfully engage with the local First Nations
- Support for nature, wildlife and habitat
- Support and concerns for large events in the park
- Recognize rich cultural heritage of the area
- Define the big moves and be aware of fragmented spaces
Drawing on this feedback, we extended our listening phase to take the time to engage deeper with the the local First Nations and park stakeholders.
Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations
We’ve been working closely with the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations to understand Indigenous values and principles. Our goal is to reflect what we have heard from the local nations in the revised park design. Through this work, we’ve learned from the nations that Northeast False Creek Park is an opportunity to:
- Make the cultures of three nations visible
- Orient the park to the waterfront in a way that reflects the connection the First Nations have with the land and water
- Create a welcoming place to gather, heal, and learn from Indigenous people
- Include harvestable plants
Read our Indigenous Engagement Report for more about these themes 
(4 MB)
Chinatown community
We’ve also heard from the Chinatown community. The key interests for the park that emerged as part of our early 2018 Chinatown event are as follows:
- Strengthen the park’s connection to Chinatown
- Enhance the park’s cultural context
- Support the cultural life of Chinatown
Read the January 2018 Chinatown workshop summary report:
Event producers, residents, and sports-field users
On the one hand, we’ve heard from event producers that Northeast False Creek Park represents the last opportunity to host large events in Downtown. On the other hand, residents are concerned that frequently hosting events would limit their daily use of the park.
Lastly, the sports fields users wish that the renewed park maintain the service levels and see opportunities for sport hosting, tying in with the new Events and Entertainment District.
A welcoming and unique park
The City of Vancouver and the Park Board are committed to strengthening their relationships with local First Nations and Urban Indigenous people. Northeast False Creek Park is located within the traditional territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations. It’s also next to Downtown and near significant Urban Indigenous communities. We see the waterfront park as a unique opportunity to physically express reconciliation.
The park is intended to be a welcoming and inclusive space. The revised park design will be a contemporary park, inspired by the way the three Nations relate to the land and water, and reflect values we can all relate to: sustainability, community, and wellness.
How did we get here?
By City of Vancouver
The Indigenous Engagement Working Group guided our extended listening phase with the three nations and was led by the Park Board reconciliation planner. Our key takeaway from this stage was to become aware of and to deconstruct our inherited colonial thinking. This shift in perspective allowed space for local First Nations values to find expression, and to create a unique, world-class waterfront park that is rooted in a sense of place.
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How did we get here?
By City of Vancouver
The Indigenous Engagement Working Group guided our extended listening phase with the three nations and was led by the Park Board reconciliation planner. Our key takeaway from this stage was to become aware of and to deconstruct our inherited colonial thinking. This shift in perspective allowed space for local First Nations values to find expression, and to create a unique, world-class waterfront park that is rooted in a sense of place.
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Replenish park identity statement
By City of Vancouver
This goal of this statement (200 KB, PDF) is to ground the new vision of the park design in Indigenous values and principles. It reflects what we learned and anchors the design in a philosophy centered on connecting to the land and water. This foundation welcomes all cultural communities of Vancouver and envisions the park as a place where people can replenish.
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Key themes we’ve heard from Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh
By City of Vancouver
The following themes emerged as part of our extended engagement: (1) Visibility of Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh; (2) Oriented to the waterfront; (3) A welcoming space; (4) A place to gather, heal, and learn from local First Nations (5) Indigenous approach to planting.
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How did we engage with the Chinatown community?
By City of Vancouver
We’ve also engaged with a large group of people from Chinatown in January 2018. Over 100 people attended the workshop on the NEFC Area Plan to provide input.
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Key themes we’ve heard from the Chinatown community
By City of Vancouver
We’ve gathered input on a variety of aspects: (1) Connectivity and accessibility; park design; (2) Architecture, design and heritage; (3) Design for all ages; and (4) Community and people. The key themes for the park design are: (1) Connect to the waterfront, (2) Compliment the surrounding cultural buildings and spaces, and (3) host traditional cultural activities in the park.
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Paradigm shift
By City of Vancouver
We realized we had to seize the opportunity to design a remarkable and unique waterfront park, authentically Vancouver, reflective of this point in time, in the heart of Downtown. In the next stage, we will present a revised concept design, reflecting the new vision for the park, rooted in the local First Nations cultures, and welcoming for all Vancouverites.
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Enriched park design principles
By City of Vancouver
The extended engagement showed us Indigenous values and principles that built on and enhanced those we’d already heard in our public engagement. We have woven in what we learned while preserving the engagement done to date with the park stakeholders. Through this reconciliation journey, we have realized that committing to reconciliation benefits all of us.
Project timeline
Here is our process and anticipated milestones.
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Fall 2016 - winter 2017
Stage 1: Analysis and Early Directions
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Winter - spring 2017
Stage 2: Draft concept plan
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Summer 2017 - summer 2018
Stage 3: Extended engagement
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We are here
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Summer 2018 - winter 2019
Stage 4: Revised concept plan
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Spring 2019
Park Board decision
Guiding principles
We’ve added and refined the park design guiding principles defined in the earlier stage of the project. They now reflect what we’ve heard as part of our extended engagement with the three nations, and park stakeholders, including Urban Indigenous people and the Chinatown community.
Key documents
Stage 3: Extended consultation
- Indigenous Engagment Summary Report – June 2018 (4 MB)
- Chinatown workshop summary report – January 2018
- Replenish Park Identity Statement (200 KB)
- Open house information displays – November 2017 (1 MB)
Stage 2: Draft park concept design
- Engagement Summary Report – November 2017 (4 MB)
- Draft Park Concept Plan – June 2017 (17 MB)
- Concept Design Report – June 2017 (10 MB)
- Concept Design Presentation video by James Corner at SFU Public Square – June 7, 2017
