Queen Elizabeth Park: A Park for Our Community

Our project strives to reinforce the design principles of a community-based park, focusing on accessibility, broadening amenities, improving connectivity, and engaging the public. To accommodate for the growing needs of residents within the area, we have created 12 interventions to enhance the park. The enhancement plan consists of three themes: (1) enhancing the urban forest, (2) broadening recreational opportunities, and (3) improving connectivity between green spaces and within the park itself.

Our interventions have been planned through field visits, geospatial data analysis and discussions among urban forest professionals. As a result, the project’s interventions will ensure that the area remains ecologically and socially resilient, while providing access to all and maintaining an environment where people can create a sense of belonging.

Metro Vancouver projects a 38% increase in population growth from 2016 – 2050, and with Queen Elizabeth being Vancouver’s second largest park, it is crucial that the area continues to provide an array of services for new and existing park users, especially as green spaces continue to become an eminent place of refuge for city-dwellers (MetroVan, 2018; City of Vancouver, 2021). Therefore, our project aims to ensure that the park adapts to the projected population growth to meet the inevitable increase in demand for park services and resources. We realize that park management and the improvement process is a long-term commitment that requires the cooperation of an array of stakeholders. Through our vision, we hope that the project interventions create a more beautiful, accessible, and resilient park, while still providing a sense of community for all visitors.