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This case study is part of the 2023 Canadian City Parks Report, showcasing Inspiring projects, people, and policies from across Canada that offer tangible solutions to the most pressing challenges facing city parks.
In June 2023, the District of Saanich introduced a new dog park strategy, redefining the ways that public spaces will be shared among people and pets.
Work on the strategy began in 2021, driven by changing needs in a growing municipality. Alongside Saanich’s population growth has come increased conflict between park goers, rooted in differing expectations of how park spaces should be used.
Recognizing the divisive nature of the issue, community engagement became the anchor of the dog park strategy, involving a wide spectrum of stakeholders and community members. Through the engagement activities, Saanich city staff sought to identify shared values and challenges that transcended different stakeholders’ individual positions.
The engagement process kicked off with public surveys designed to capture a broad cross-section of perspectives in the community. The surveys were complemented by deeper methods, including park pop-ups and community dialogue sessions, providing a platform for residents to voice their concerns, share their perspectives, and connect with fellow community members. An important goal of the sessions was to foster empathy and understanding among participants, helping to find common ground.
Open houses served as a forum for collaboration. Residents, pet owners, wildlife advocates, and environmentalists came together to discuss their visions for Saanich’s parks. Through hearing from one another directly, these diverse stakeholders began to identify common values despite their different perspectives.
A shared love for the municipality’s natural environment, an appreciation of public spaces, and a desire for accessible, safe, and enjoyable parks emerged as common threads. These conversations allowed the focus to shift from conflicting interests to the shared aspiration of fostering a vibrant, sustainable community that accommodates everyone’s needs.
The engagements also uncovered common challenges. Residents collectively acknowledged the need to protect the environment, maintain the safety and well-being of pets and people, and address the increasing demand for public spaces on Vancouver Island’s largest municipality as the population of Saanich continues to grow.
Out of these learnings, the People, Pets, and Parks Strategy took shape with a list of six shared community values at its core. These values were determined through consultations, and each recommendation in the strategy is linked to one or more of the values, transparently rooting each action in the strategy to the goals outlined by the community. The city went further to prioritize transparency with residents by publishing a detailed FAQ page explaining the motivation behind each decision.
The strategy is paired with a commitment to the development of new, dedicated off-leash dog parks. These areas are strategically located to balance the needs of pet owners and other park users. This approach exemplifies the commitment to create parks that are safe, enjoyable, and environmentally sustainable, addressing both common values and challenges.
More on this topic:
In our survey, 60% of cities said that developing non-profit partnerships to co-manage parks is a high or medium priority in the next year. This strong interest is perhaps unsurprising given the benefits collaborative governance models offer, from deepening community engagement to enhancing stewardship at a time when municipal maintenance resources are strained.
Yet, the nuts and bolts of these arrangements are often opaque. Roles and responsibilities, funding sources, decision-making processes, and community involvement structures are just some of the variables that define the distinct ways these partnerships play out.
In Saskatoon, Meewasin Valley Authority offers an example of how collaborative governance can operate in a large-scale urban park. At approximately 6700 hectares, Meewasin Valley is a treasure within Saskatoon that includes land on both sides of the South Saskatchewan River, 60 kilometres of trail networks, and extensive biodiversity.
It is a rarity not only for its size, but also its unique governance structure. Meewasin Valley is managed by three core partners: the City of Saskatoon, the University of Saskatchewan and the Province of Saskatchewan.
The Meewasin Valley Authority, a non-profit organization, is the mechanism that allows the three partners to work together in managing the park. The organization was created in 1979 after the completion of a 100-year concept plan, which outlined a vision for collaborative governance to allow integrated decision-making. This is important given the park’s complicated landscape, consisting of land owned privately, and by universities, First Nations, the federal government, provincial government and multiple municipalities.
Today, the non-profit consists of a team of staff who carry out day-to-day management of the park, park programming, community engagement and park stewardship, and a Board of Directors composed of four representatives from each of the core partners. The Board focuses on policy across five committees: Development Review, Conservation Advisory, Design Advisory, Education Advisory, and Fund Development.
Establishing clearly defined roles and responsibilities through memoranda of understanding has been key to Meewasin’s success, as has refining elements of the partnership over time. The funding model, for example, has evolved over Meewasin’s history to reflect the reality of increased demands on public funds. To supplement core funding, Meewasin has expanded revenue sources through fundraising, grants, contract work within mandate areas, an endowment, paid programming and capital campaigns for larger projects.
Looking to the future, Meewasin is broadening its engagement with partners across the country and deepening its relationships with First Nations. Meewasin is currently engaging with Parks Canada in a pre-feasibility study to explore its potential as a National Urban Park. It is also part of Park People’s Cornerstone Parks network, a national community of practice that allows representatives from large urban parks with complex governance structures to exchange challenges, learnings, and engage in collective problem-solving.
Further reading:
As many cities struggle to find ‘new’ parkland in dense urban areas, one Montreal initiative highlights the power of partnerships to make use of what’s already there.
Nestled within Montreal’s Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough, the Darlington Ecological Corridor was founded by Alexandre Beaudoin, Biodiversity Advisor at the Université de Montréal. The goal of the project was to bridge the nature flowing from Mount Royal into the urban landscape, providing new passageways for both wildlife and residents.
Tying together a patchwork of open spaces along a former railroad, the project connects land fragmented along lines of ownership into a cohesive green corridor by fostering collaboration.
The Darlington Ecological Corridor uses an innovative co-management model integrating diverse stakeholders. By uniting academic institutions, community organizations, non-profits, experts, and local residents, the project weaves together several priorities into a coherent vision that serves both the community and nature.
The concept of co-management involves engaging a network of partners working collaboratively, with well-defined roles and responsibilities outlined through management agreements. In this model, Éco-pivot serves as the trustee, providing administrative support and oversight. Université de Montréal contributes academic insight, with 19 master’s students currently dedicated to the project and shaping its evolution. The borough plays a pivotal role, providing a dedicated staff person to anchor the project within the borough’s institutional framework. This tangible commitment by the local government legitimizes the project’s significance within the community and ensures its alignment with broader objectives.
A distinguishing feature of the Darlington Ecological Corridor’s governance model is its adaptability. Over time, through community and partner involvement, the project has broadened its mission, assuming a larger role in addressing social challenges. This evolution is exemplified by a partnership with Multi-Caf, a local organization focused on combating food insecurity in the neighbourhood. The site has a vegetable garden developed in partnership with the YMCA to introduce youth to urban agriculture and gardening. This collaboration highlights the corridor’s transition from a primarily ecological initiative to a multifaceted project that addresses pressing social needs.
The Darlington Ecological Corridor has influenced ecological corridor movements in other boroughs across the city, prompting a similar initiative in the Sud-Ouest. Following the borough’s first-ever participatory budget, one of the winning projects was an ecological corridor connecting the Sud-Ouest to Lasalle.
The success of the Darlington model highlights how creating more connected partners can create more connected green spaces, inviting us to think beyond land acquisition as a strategy to meet parkland needs.
In Park People’s recent survey of stewardship program participants in large urban parks, 97% said stewardship contributes to their mental well-being, and 90% to their physical health. Yet, our survey also hinted at critical gaps in who has access to these benefits, with participants disproportionately identifying as cis-gendered women, able-bodied and white.
In North Vancouver, the city was noticing similar gaps in its City Park Stewards program—a city-led initiative established in 2001 that offers monthly volunteer events where residents can engage in activities like invasive pulls, native plantings, and educational workshops. To help reach under-represented groups, the city applied for a $5000 grant from BC Healthy Communities intended to support upstream health benefits in the community.
“We applied with the idea that we could enhance community cohesion and sense of belonging through the park stewardship program by increasing inclusivity and diversity.”
Anu Garcha, Planning Assistant at the City of North Vancouver
When the grant was successful, the city began outreach to partner organizations that serve diverse populations including underhoused communities, newcomers, and at-risk youth, as well as promoting through other city programs like English classes at the public library.
“Building these relationships is very important because it helps us connect with different people in the community.”
Anu Garcha
At the end of the events, city staff invite participants to share feedback about their experience in a voluntary exit interview. The interview includes prompts about whether participants felt welcome and included, the impact of the events on their sense of connection to others and the environment, and ideas for improvement. Importantly, interview participants are offered honoraria in recognition of their time and insights.
Participants have shared many benefits from the program, including discovering new green spaces, learning more about local ecology, and making new friends.
City staff are taking direction from the interviews to continue maximizing these benefits, said Angela Negenman, Environmental Coordinator at the City of North Vancouver.
“For those experiencing homelessness, maybe this is something that could give them an edge to get a landscaping job, right? If we are able to figure out what those things are through this process, we’ll be able to improve the program.”
Angela Negenman, Environmental Coordinator at the City of North Vancouver
The conversations have also unearthed important barriers. For example, city staff learned that getting to the events can be a challenge—not just in terms of accessing transportation, but also feeling comfortable venturing to new parts of the city. In response, the city has provided free bus passes to participants, and when possible, a staff member from the partner organization accompanies participants to the park.
“I wouldn’t have thought of [these barriers] if they hadn’t been shared with us. It’s definitely eye-opening.”
Angela Negenman
The city held a community meeting with residents who selected a smaller 10,000 square foot space in the park to be a programmed pollinator habitat, which would be stewarded by the community group Cianchino created with ongoing support from the city. In the future Cianchino said she wants to implement a QR code system in locations identified for potential naturalization asking residents to let the city know how they currently use the space.
Supporting community stewards will be a key part of the project’s ongoing success. Working with volunteers, Cianchino led the group’s first “bio blitz,” where residents measure the number of pollinators before the planting of native species this fall. Cianchino also works with the group to discuss what people can do in their own yards to support naturalization efforts. The core of the Eco Park Strategy, she said, is a series of linked habitats and green corridors,
“and you can’t just do that through public land. It’s critical that we educate landowners and help them build capacity to naturalize their spaces in a manner that works for them.”
Karley Cianchino, City of Brampton Environmental Project Specialist
Another learning is that outreach is more effective ‘offline,’ through posters and in-person visits, and must be ongoing, as there is high turnover at many of these organizations. For example, participants from a local shelter are often only there for short-term stays.
It’s not just participants who benefit from the park stewards program. For the city, the program is important in educating the public, building ongoing stewardship habits, and restoring degraded natural areas.
Another unexpected benefit is a morale boost for parks staff. Negenman noted that for operations staff involved with the program, engaging directly with the community and seeing public education in action “just gives them a different perspective on the work.”
These are benefits that Negenman knows firsthand, too: “it’s definitely inspiring, it fills my bucket.”
More cities across Canada are prioritizing the naturalization of existing parkland. Converting manicured parkland into natural meadows has multiple benefits including increasing climate resilience, biodiversity, and nature connection for residents.
However, these projects have also proven controversial. For example, Vancouver’s “no-mow” pilot project, which naturalized certain sections of parks, was met with opposition by some residents who viewed the spaces as unkempt–a challenge that many other cities in Canada have reported facing.
Karley Cianchino thinks a lot about park naturalization. As City of Brampton Environmental Project Specialist, Cianchino’s job is to plan parks collaboratively with communities through the lens of nature.
Brampton prioritizes naturalization projects using its unique Eco Park Strategy–a citywide strategy that contains principles for conserving and enhancing both natural and cultural heritage. The strategy includes a helpful tool in understanding how to plan spaces, situating them on a scale from highly naturalized systems to high functioning social systems, recognizing that most places are a blend.
“If a park has a low environmental score, then we’ll look for opportunities to bring some restoration work forward.”
No matter how good they are, strategies have a habit of sitting on a shelf gathering dust. To ensure that doesn’t happen, Cianchino said that she does a lot of internal coordination, including a bi-monthly Eco Park meeting, as well as “casual conversations” with colleagues about new projects and discussing how to incorporate the Eco Park objectives. For example, if a park is undergoing upgrades, perhaps that’s an opportunity to incorporate naturalization work. This approach not only minimizes redundant community engagement and resource allocation but also enhances synergy between projects.
Not all of these projects go off without a hitch, however. Recently the city naturalized a large section of Dearbourne Park–the first time the city had brought its naturalization program to a busy neighbourhood park. It wasn’t received well, Cianchino said, with residents pointing out they had lost park space they used for other activities.
Further Reading:
The Vancouver Park Board is now four years into their 25-year parks and recreation master plan, VanPlay. With a focus on equity, population growth, and evolving demographics, this strategy sets the stage for investments in green spaces and ensures the city keeps up with emerging needs.
While the city now boasts more parks than it did 25 years ago, rapid densification has resulted in a one-third decrease in park space per person. To tackle this challenge, the master plan offers a toolkit for efficient decision-making, accommodating diverse needs and user groups.
What sets this strategy apart is its integration of equity principles, including examinations of intersectionality, privilege, and oppression. At the heart of VanPlay is the goal of rectifying historical inequities in park access and quality across different neighbourhoods. VanPlay positions the City of Vancouver as a leader in this area.
VanPlay employs geospatial data to identify underserved areas that require increased park investments. These areas, known as Initiative Zones, are identified through an analysis of three key factors: park access gaps, demand for low barrier recreation, and tree canopy coverage. With the option to layer additional factors over time, such as income, community engagement, capital investments, and demographic data, the Park Board can gain a deeper understanding of nuanced needs and can effectively target key policy areas.
A significant priority of VanPlay is its water strategy. Vancouver, a city renowned for its connection to the waterfront and beaches, has unfortunately buried 91% of its urban streams. VanPlay enhances biodiversity and rainfall management by revitalizing these streams and bringing them back to the surface. This initiative simultaneously creates more natural spaces in the city, provides new amenities for residents, and helps manage rainwater during storms. It is a significant win for biodiversity and climate resilience.
When it comes to public space, streets play a crucial role. In Vancouver, streets occupy 32% of the city’s land area, compared to 11% for parks. Recognizing this untapped potential, VanPlay encourages the transformation of streets into public spaces. Collaborating with Planning and Engineering, the master plan suggests the creation of parklets, street closures, laneway activations, and more to meet the growing demand for public space.
Connectivity is another key focus of VanPlay. Vancouver already boasts the world’s longest continuous waterfront trail, the iconic 28 km seawall. Building on this success, VanPlay aims to expand the city’s network of bike lanes and pedestrian pathways. The master plan also introduces “network enhancers,” such as bike repair stations, wayfinding signage, lighting, and seating. These elements not only improve connectivity but also enhance safety, utility, and overall enjoyment between destinations.
As cities struggle to find and pay for new park space to meet growth needs, some argue that a shift towards focusing on quality is part of the solution.
Having enough park space is critical, but the quality of park space can greatly determine its use. Quality can be about the amenities present (or missing), but it can also be about whether a space feels welcoming or safe to people.
“We have to realize that we are transitioning to a state in which securing parkland through development will incrementally become more challenging, effectively leading to a reduction in parkland per capita over time in the absence of alternative parkland acquisition tools,” said one park manager in an Ontario municipality, citing changes to provincial legislation in Ontario that affect the amount of parkland cities receive through development.
“Which means we need to look at quality and use of space rather than quantity much more effectively.”
Park Manager
This park manager noted their city is already seeing a reduction of parkland area in development applications—in some medium to high density new growth areas, the city is seeing up to a 60% reduction in the ability of securing future parks. The reduction is much more acute in high density neighbourhoods where more and more people are required to share fewer public spaces.
While quick to point out that this change is detrimental, this manager also sees a potential positive in pushing cities to look more closely at existing assets and how best to use them.
So, what does a focus on quality look like?
It might look like ensuring park spaces have amenities that a nearby community needs and that those amenities are in good repair. It might also lie in understanding the socio-cultural dimensions of a park and whether the facilities, programming, and overall design are relevant for surrounding communities.
These seem like basic measures, and yet just 43% of cities said they measure park quality at all. Even fewer collect socio-demographic data on park use to understand whether the park is meeting diverse community needs. At the same time, 100% of cities reported aging infrastructure and asset management as a challenge.
For one park manager, part of the answer lies in rethinking the intensity of use of parkland and ensuring that we’re maximizing the potential of land and amenities.
For example, the manager noted that one of the challenges that growing cities are facing is designing for large format sports facilities like soccer and baseball, which are land intensive while limited to a single use. If cities are going to need more of these facilities to meet demand, the question is then how to increase the intensity of use in existing assets for longer periods of time, rather than simply thinking about where to build new ones, this person said.
One idea might be looking at seasonal doming of sports fields so they can be used all-year regardless of weather conditions. Other cities, like North Vancouver, are turning disused infrastructure into amenities that meet current demands, like transforming an old swimming pool into a skatepark. Other cities have split uses between warmer and colder months, allowing for once single-use facilities, like tennis courts, to be used for other purposes, like off-leash dog areas in the winter months.
All show the potential of rethinking existing spaces to ensure they’re performing well and meeting current community needs.
This case study is part of the 2024 Canadian City Parks Report, showcasing Inspiring projects, people, and policies from across Canada that offer tangible solutions to the most pressing challenges facing city parks.
Over the past few years, our collective understanding has recognized that systemic racism is prevalent in parks and public spaces. Historically, these areas have been sites where Black, Indigenous, and racialized people face suspicion, surveillance, harassment, violence, and even death.
Year after year, our public survey has shown that about 1 in 10 city residents avoid parks and greenspaces due to fear of discrimination or policing.
This year, when asked whether city parks should do more to address equity and racial justice, over two-thirds (67%) agreed. Similarly, in 2023, 66% of cities recognized the role of parks in combating racism.
While awareness of these issues is growing, action remains limited. Only 17% of cities feel equipped to address racism, allowing the needs of racialized populations to fall through the cracks.
How can municipalities move from awareness to action? We spoke with Jay Pitter about the BEING BLACK IN PUBLIC SURVEY a bi-national survey, developed by Jay Pitter Placemaking (Lead Investigator: Jay Pitter, Co-Investigator: Professor L. Anders Sandberg) and administered by the Institute for Social Research. Overall, the survey asked “What are the public space policies, design approaches and unspoken social attitudes that both diminish and enhance Black peoples’ experiences when navigating cities?”
This research fills gaps in understanding the Black experience in parks and other public spaces in Canada and the United States. Pitter identified a lack of data, particularly in Canada, on how Black communities perceive and experience these spaces. Many institutions measure narrowly defined ideas of inclusion by tracking safety or the absence of anti-Black violence, but Pitter argues that this is insufficient – mitigating violence should be the bare minimum.
Her research also explores how the historical and ongoing trauma from racism, police brutality, and violence in public spaces as well as, mobility inequity and lack of pathways to economic prosperity affect Black people’s well-being, social belonging, and sense of spatial entitlement.
“At the heart of this survey is filling a gap in what the other stats do not—which is to center Black people as wholly, human, spiritual beings. Previous research and stories often omit the impact of incidents related to lack of safety and restriction. What do those numbers mean? To Black people’s mental health, to Black people’s sense of self, to Black people’s belonging, to Black people’s imagination and aspirations? So, one of my main focuses was to re-humanize Black individuals and communities by creating space for their deep reflection, healing and dreaming aloud.”
Jay Pitter, Award-winning placemaker, adjunct urban planning professor and author
The BEING BLACK IN PUBLIC SURVEY uses a trauma-informed, asset-based approach that emphasizes Black joy and knowledge. Respondents were asked about positive experiences and memories in public spaces, with Pitter emphasizing the importance of learning from successes, not just tragedies.
Pitter also highlighted how Black communities contribute to public spaces.
“I didn’t want to reduce our experience in public to strictly a victim experience, because despite the auction block, centuries of anti-Black public space policy, and disproportionate experiences of violence and homelessness, Black peoples’ labour, placemaking expertise and culture have contributed so much to the form and vibrance of public spaces. We make public spaces lit.“
Jay Pitter
This approach of centering joy and honouring Black peoples’ placemaking contributions is a crucial example of how cities can engage with equity-deserving groups without compelling them to relive histories of oppression. Pitter noted that many respondents expressed gratitude for the opportunity to share their positive experiences and knowledge.
The findings from this study will be shared in an action-oriented report in February 2025, offering insights for cities and institutions on fostering real inclusion for Black communities in parks and other public spaces. Pitter shared some early findings: parks are among the most frequented public spaces by Black individuals and generally score well on physical safety. However, her early findings indicated that parks fall short in fostering Black cultural identity, deep belonging, and inclusive programming.
Pitter sees significant opportunities for growth, including co-creation of spaces, representation in park leadership, power-sharing, and park events that elevate Black communities.
To learn more about how your city can enhance inclusion for Black communities in public spaces, stay tuned at jaypitter.com for the full report available in February 2025.
In Metro Vancouver, a ground-breaking agreement between a government agency—Metro Vancouver Regional Parks—and the Tsleil-Waututh Nation shows a different way of managing parks and highlighting their past and present cultural value.
At 2,560 acres, təmtəmíxʷtən/Belcarra Regional Park is two and a half times the size of Vancouver’s Stanley Park and receives 1.2 million visitors per year. The park was also the site of the largest ancestral village within the Tsleil-Waututh Nation.
Gabriel George, a Tsleil-Waututh Nation member and also the Nation’s Director of Treaty Lands and Resources Development said that a lot of the Nation’s territory falls into parkland “so it’s been something that historically has isolated us and disconnected us from our land. I think the importance of trying to engage and have partnerships…is an important way for us to exert our rights.”
Mike Redpath, Director of Parks for Metro Vancouver Regional Parks said that Metro Vancouver Regional Parks began working with the Tsleil-Waututh Nation in 2017 on developing a “Cultural Planning and Cooperation Agreement,” which was signed in 2020. The agreement outlines a shared vision, guiding principles, and governance for the park. These include, among others, protection of natural resources, promotion of the site for recreational use, and increased public awareness of Tsleil-Waututh Nation cultural history.
“There’s a strong acknowledgement within the agreement and the relationship that it is public land; however, there was a traditional use of the site and the agreement strives to find a balance between the two,” Redpath said.
Good governance is a cornerstone of a successful partnership. The cooperation agreement contains two mechanisms for joint-governance: a Leadership Committee and a Technical Committee, which include both members from the Nation and Metro Vancouver Regional Parks.
Projects are prioritized in an annual work plan by the Technical Committee, which is then approved by the Leadership Committee and submitted during an annual budget process. Each individual project includes an “engagement agreement,” which outlines deliverables and ensures both partners understand roles and responsibilities.
The agreement also includes economic development policies, such using Tsleil-Waututh approved contractors in the park to support local entrepreneurs.
“We had an economy in place that was basically stripped from us,” George said. “We had currencies older than paper. We had systems of trade. So we lost that.” He noted that his people used to harvest clams for thousands of years, but then had to “sneak around at night…because they weren’t allowed.” so seeking out these economic opportunities is “our inherent right.”
Although the cooperation agreement was signed just four years ago, there have been several significant projects that have been implemented since then, with more on the way.
The first was a park renaming in 2021, which changed the park’s name to təmtəmíxʷtən/Belcarra Regional Park. Prior to this, Metro Vancouver Regional Parks had not engaged in any renaming of the regional park system to traditional place names with First Nations communities.
For George, the term “renaming” doesn’t quite fit, however. “It’s more than that,” he said.
“It’s recognizing the real name of that place. It’s important because we need to be represented. We need to be seen. We need to be heard on our own territory.”
Gabriel George, Tsleil-Waututh Nation member and Nation’s Director of Treaty Lands and Resources Development
Redpath also said it provided Metro Vancouver Parks with a naming precedent that could be used in other places. Indeed, another regional park has just had its name changed from Colony Farm Regional Park to ƛ̓éxətəm (tla-hut-um) Regional Park–a name gifted by the kʷikʷəƛ̓əm (Kwikwetlem) First Nation that translates to “we welcome you.”
Another joint project was the just completed installation of a welcome pole in the area of the Nation’s traditional village site. Other projects have included environmental restoration work, interpretive programming, and the development of a Cultural Heritage Study that will better understand the depth of cultural history of the park.
While it took time to implement the agreement, Redpath said it provides many benefits. Staff are “able to pick up the phone and talk to someone at the Nation who’s a familiar face. It helps advance projects together and sometimes faster as well.”
The willingness to try doing things differently is key to success. “It’s a change process,” Redpath said, adding that it’s a different way of doing business in many ways. He stressed that early and ongoing communication is key for the trust-building necessary for a strong partnership.
“The agreement is a piece of paper, but the relationships and the conversations are really what make it successful.”
Mike Redpath, Director of Parks for Metro Vancouver Regional Parks
George echoed these sentiments. “It can be so easy to not change things,” he said, but it’s important to push outside of comfort zones and do things differently. “You can’t fix all the issues, but when you approach the work, think about what kind of legacy you can create.”
“I think for Indigenous Nations, parks can be important places to occupy and to reclaim,” he said, adding that they’ve seen big successes in some of their relationships to their parks. “This is our home. We think of it as an extension of our community.”
Designing for inclusivity and accessibility is top of mind for many municipalities. From our surveys, 78% of municipalities indicated that universal accessible design is a high priority in their work. And while many municipalities look to provincial accessibility guidelines to meet basic standards, our 2022 public survey revealed that 10% of city residents say that insufficient accessibility features discourage them from visiting and enjoying city parks. This suggests that parks are still not working for everyone.
Waterfront Toronto, a tri-government agency, noticed gaps in existing provincial and municipal accessibility guidelines when designing new public spaces, specifically spaces around water. Some of these gaps include standards around the design of boat launches, boardwalks, beaches and water entry points.
Waterfront Toronto knew that in order to create truly accessible public spaces they needed to learn from, listen to and involve the people who understand accessibility challenges and opportunities the best – people living with disabilities.
Waterfront Toronto assembled an advisory committee made up of individuals with professional and technical expertise, most of whom are people living with disabilities, to guide the development of their new design guidelines. The guidelines aim to go above and beyond existing requirements and ensure waterfront settings can be enjoyed by all. Notable requirements include standards that all beaches must have accessible pathways into the water and boat launches for adapted canoes and kayaks must be provided.
The process of including community members with lived experience in an advisory committee is not a novel engagement practice. But what really sets this work apart is that the guidelines incorporated a permanent mechanism to include those with lived experience in all future projects.
The advisory committee emphasized the guiding principle of “nothing about us without us”, and the idea that no single voice speaks for the entire disability community. The committee members also highlighted the importance of implementation.
One of the ways Waterfront Toronto addressed this was to create a permanent accessibility committee that reviews all future public realm projects and will advise on future updates to the guidelines. This follow-on committee, known as the Accessibility Advisory Committee, is made up of individuals with professional expertise, advocates and caregivers, most of whom identify as a person with a disability, who receive an honorarium for their time. When composing the committee, Waterfront Toronto sought people with a range of disabilities and experiences to try and represent the diversity of accessibility needs.
For any new parks or public space projects, the Accessibility Advisory Committee is engaged at least twice in the process. The committee provides feedback within the early stages of the design phase to flag any accessibility concerns and again once the construction is complete, with additional opportunities for input as needed. This “roll through” of complete projects identifies any potential areas for improvement. This feedback will be implemented as amendments to the guidelines and applied to future projects, but Waterfront Toronto has also committed to accommodating the feedback at the site when a retrofit or repair is needed.
The guidelines set out a new standard for inclusively designed public spaces by filling gaps and going above and beyond current requirements, and proactively seeking out those with lived experience to guide projects on a long-term basis.
Enhancing accessibility to blue spaces ensures that everyone has access to the restorative power of nature. And while the implementation of the new guidelines ensures that people with disabilities can participate in these public spaces, accessibly designed spaces are good for everyone.
“We know that to create a vibrant waterfront that belongs to everyone, we must have a strong commitment to accessibility in everything we make and do. With the support of the Accessibility Advisory Committee we are making accessibility another area of true design excellence.”
Pina Mallozzi, Senior Vice President, Design at Waterfront Toronto
Further Reading