Democratic Values in Planning — Urban Design for the Public Good: Assignment 7, Structure Transformed

5. Uses This was a massing and mixed-uses study for a portion of a City-owned south downtown property. A mostly single-use City-owned multiplex hockey arena was proposed and defeated in a referendum. Objective here was to imagine a productive mix of mid-denstiy low-rise residential with commercial and institutional components.

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4. Buildings The short-block street grid illustrated here allows for a dynamic range of land ownership possibilities including the long-term leasing of some sub-divided parcels by the City on which it could partner with non-profit organizations to build non-market housing, social, co-op, assisted, etc. Some properties would be divested to the marketplace bringing a range of uses and new capital for development. An institutional presence, Vancouver Island University, the Snuneymuxw First Nations, Federal and Provincial governments should be encouraged.

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3. Public Space The precinct is anchored in the adjoining acreage between here the harbour, the Strait of Georgia (the Salish Sea). This area in its entirity should be maintained in the public domain in perpetuity and should become a brilliant new urban plaza on the waterfront. The 4 and 5 storey office and  institutional buildings in the southwest corner of the site have generous setbacks from the street allowing for green space and public use.

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2. Urban Plan A visioning and guiding principles process was completed in 2013 and its reports presented to Council. The guiding principles establish the importance of connectivity, the working harbour and “bold, resilient and visionary” land use. There are rail rights-of-way on the site but it is not presently used for rail freight.

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1. Terrain The site is relatively flat and has been used for industrial purposes of many years. Some remediation work has been done and it has been cleared for development with some restrictions. Its elevation is just above sea level, restricting some below grade possibilities. 

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Democratic Values in Planning —Urban Design for the Public Good: Assignment 6, Modelling in Urban Planning

1. Shadow analysis in SketchUp showing shadow impacts of a 10 storey building at Fitzwilliam and Selby Streets. June 1, 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM



2. The ideal map. As 2D mapping transitions to 3D, enabling more and more layered information, the new Google Earth is currently, arguably, the best mapping format available. These are examples of the kinds of data (more is being added every day) available with this kind of mapping technologies —

• Distance measures by car, bike, walk.
• Ruler tool for detailed measurements.
• Info cards link to points of interest details.
• Layers for user inputs.
• 3D building models.
• Street view.
• Photo galleries.
  

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Democratic Values in Planning —Urban Design for the Public Good: Assignment 5, The Fair City

Assignment
Choose an uninviting public place in your neighbourhood whose layout and structure make you feel uncomfortable or unwel­come. This may be for any reason and must not be restricted to traffic. There may be social issues, or safety issues such as criminality. Maybe a space has been taken over by tourism, by taxis or maybe there are just too many claims so people start encroaching on each other. Many of these issues, planners or designers can do nothing about, but as far as the spatial di­mension is concerned, we can use our skills to propose solutions.

There have been several private sector projects in downtown Nanaimo that have made considerable contributions to its urbanization. City Hall transportation and urban design policies — especially in the areas of walkable neighbourhoods and neighbourhood public places — have not kept pace. In Assignment 5 in the Technical University of Delft on-line course, Urban Design for the Public Good: Dutch Urbanism, I have proposed a solution to a public space on our City Hall's formal grounds that is presently used only to park a few cars and extends to and eliminated what was once the adjoining sidewalk. I have proposed the creation of a new public square on the site. This square would take advantage of the view from here across downtown to the harbour and be a very welcome addition to the steadily densifying Old City neighbourhood.

Before

Proposed

Top view

On-line course — Democratic Values in Planning Urban Design for the Public Good: Assignment 4, Urban Metabolism

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Looking spatially at Nanaimo's mobility and transportation systems with inputs and outputs, storage and using a "circular urban metabolism" approach and the principles "reduce, reuse and recycle."
ASSIGNMENT
See your city or town as an ecosystem with inputs and outputs. Choose one flow with a particular relevance for this ecosystem. The assignment is to analyze this flow. Not in a quantitative way, but in a spatial way. What are the inputs and outputs? Where do they enter, stay and leave your ecosystem? Where do spatial problems arise? Try to visualize them in the way shown in the Definition part of this tutorial. Draw a miniature or simplified version of “your town” in the diagram below.
 
You can use the subsoil, the surface or the sky above to represent your flow. Try to think of spatial solutions or improvements using the circular urban metabolism approach in which you try to “reduce, re-use and recycle” your flow. Please note: this is an explorative exercise. It is about generating spatial ideas. Your contribution may be speculative!

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Pinterest Assignment 4: Urban Metabolism

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On-line course — Democratic Values in Planning Urban Design for the Public Good: Dutch Urbanism. Week 3.

Reading the Landscape, a method of “reading” the landscape as input for designers. Illustrating two basic principles in Dutch Urbanism: its contextual approach and the connection of regional and local scale. A landscape can be dissected into three layers: a natural layer, a cultural layer and an urban layer. Analysing a landscape in this way can help to find or pinpoint the spatial identity of a given place. Planners and designers can incorporate this information in new designs. Using the “identity” of a place in design is important in a fast urbanising world where local identities may be at stake.

The 3 maps that follow illustrate each: 1. The natural layer, showing Nanaimo's siting on the Strait of Georgia, the Millstream River, right in the picture. 2. The cultural layer. This map is from the 2008 Downtown Urban Design Plan and Guidelines showing the nature of each precinct in the city. 3. For The Urban Layer I've chosen, perhaps ironically, an 1891 map showing the distinctive street grid pattern that fans out from the central waterfront.

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Assignment, Week 2: Identify a public good in your neighbourhood

Assignment: Identify a public good in your home environment. Describe the physical appearance of that good in public space in no more than 50 words and one illustration. If it is a good place, show how in no more than 50 words and one illustration. Use the four criteria of “Placemaking” in your assessment. If it is not a good place, propose an improvement in no more than 50 words and one illustration.

• accessibility and connectivity
• image and comfort
• use and activity
• sociability

My example of a public good in my city is a public washroom. A loo. A “Portland Loo.” It goes about its business at the Diana Krall Plaza in the heart of downtown Nanaimo (this is the famous singer and musician's hometown).

It has a high tech look, resembles a bus stop kiosk. Clean lines, round in design, stainless steel with a powder grey finish. Modernist in appearance, it complements surrounding building styles and adds needed utility to a less than successful public square.

Madden Fabrication - Portland Loo - Video V6 (2) from Greg Madden on Vimeo.

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On-line course — Democratic Values in Planning Urban Design for the Public Good: Dutch Urbanism. Week 2.

Democratic Values in Planning from Roberto Rocco

1. Public goods are non-rivalrous and non-excludable. Urban Design not in the public good does harm to the public good.

— NanaimoCommons (@NanaimoCommons) June 6, 2017

 

I agree. There are few things as damaging to a city as emphasis on private car mobility. Successful cities have good public transportation.

— Roberto Rocco (@RobertoRocco) June 6, 2017

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On-line course — Democratic Values in Planning Urban Design for the Public Good: Dutch Urbanism. Week 1.

Assignment: Draw your own domestic environment in a map. Include a legend explaining the meaning of the line types or colours, try to establish an approximate scale, don’t forget to give your drawing a name: the name of your village, town or city.

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