Community Meeting Notes (Feb 28, 2018) - Co-creating 8 80 Cities: How to meaningfully engage communities to build inclusive cities
Description
Presenters: Ryan O'Connor, David Simor
8 80 Cities believes that if everything we did in our cities – from building parks to designing transportation systems - was great for eight year-olds and eighty year-olds, then we would create inclusive and thriving cities that work for everyone. Creating 8 80 Cities begins with meaningful and inclusive community engagement. This presentation will describe our unique approach to community engagement, which focuses on building trust and ensuring everyone has a voice in the city building process. Through case studies and stories from our own work in cities across North America, we’ll share how engagement can lead to the inclusive design of streets and public spaces that work for all community members.
Notes
The public are often left out of the design process until the final stages, this tends to lead to bad design that isn't accessible or usable.
8 80 cities is a a non-profit in Toronto
core servies
Open street planning
free recreational programs that open streets to people by closing them to cars
allow for people of all abilities to explore their cities
streets become like paved parks
Ideas labs
full/half day retreats
Unconventional Engagement
most of their work is in the public realm
not just parks and plazas, but streets, sidewalks, parking, transit stops, alleys, intersections waterfronts, etc.
philosophy
if everything we did in our cities was safe and accessible for an 8 year old and an 80 year old we would have cities that were accessible to all of us
Central park in New York was designed to be a meeting place for everyone regardless of background to come together, in Bogota they did this with their streets.
The government will not try to remove the open streets because the community is so actively involved in it.
Preconceived notions
The typical consultation process tend to re-inforce preconceived notions public of government and vice-versa
Macro level requires government
Micro scale is done well by the public
"It's about People"
start with the people rather than the place, design, or plan.
in this way the plan is reflective of the people
Traditional consultations tend not to be diverse
middle aged, affluent
Forms of engagement aren't one-size-fits all
need to ask the public how they want to have the consultation first
8 80 Cities rules of engagement
Take it to the streets
meet people where they're at
builds public trust
breaks down first barrier, when you start a project, that you're expecting people come to you
instead you go to the people where they already are
Be Inclusive
recognize that people of different ages will want to engage in the project differently (e.g. fill in a blank, draw a picture, place a dot on a board, etc.)
Play with a Purpose
Value People's time
it's a reciprocal process
people should be compensated in some form to show you value their time, could be food, events, cards, etc.
Create some buzz
Make outreach materials as engaging as possible
Take Action
Demonstrate that their participation is worthwhile
Iterative process