SFU - CityStudio Vancouver

Service Industry & COVID-19

The essence of the project is collecting and analyzing data on differences in employment across various sectors of the BC service industry, such as tourism, hotel, accommodation, and retail.

Our group has created an innovative place-making strategy that provides permanent recognition of the tireless advocacy efforts of Filipina activists in Vancouver and Canada, broadly. Our strategy involves placing photos and art of Filipina activists on picnic tables and benches in Collingwood Park, which is a park frequented by the Filipino community.

Community Organization Networks and GRI Engagement

The City of Vancouver's Green Infrastructure branch is looking for innovative and exciting ways to engage with communities across the city to create dialogue about green rainwater infrastructure. This project explores first steps to building relationships with non-profits and neighbourhood houses that will result in increased engagement and mutual benefits.

HoodHub

A reimagined neighborhood corner store that facilitates much more than simply groceries. Other than being a space for farmer sourced and zero waste groceries, it hosts a kitchen during off season to enable accessible food options. It is also a place for the community to hang-out in, have meetings, collective gardening, attend classes and events and much more!

Filipinx Engagement

This project explores the barriers & tools for engaging the Filipinx community on Green Rainwater Infrastructure in Vancouver.

Why Did the Bee Cross the Road?

A design guide that will assist in the scalable optimization of bioretention bulges in the City of Vancouver, by using green rainwater infrastructure strategies. This guide will also promote the use of specific vegetation to improve connectivity amongst these bulges as part of a pollinator pathway. By enhancing these pollinator corridors, this guide supports local biodiversity.

Stanley Park Railway Revitalization

Over the past few years, the long loved Stanley Park Train has fallen into a state of disrepair. The Stanley Park Railway Revitalization project, assigned to SFU’s Sustainable Energy Engineering team, looks to reinvent the Stanley Park Train for the next generation. Their electric drivetrain design powers the train in a fifth of the current operating costs, and eliminates all the ride’s tailpipe greenhouse gas emissions.

Street food for Bees

Green rainwater infrastructure sites are small areas of planted municipal land that help urban sprawls deal with excess rainwater. We aim to enhance the green space services they provide by ensuring they have enough plants that are highly beneficial to pollinators. This will be done by developing a statistical tool which can assess the plant distribution in a site.

B.C. Housing: Endemic

An inquiry into BC Housing and Rental markets since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Comparing pre and post Covid-19 market indicators, we highlight particular age group vulnerabilities accentuated by the pandemic. A contribution to the ongoing discussion of housing shortage in across BC, particularly in Vancouver. We also touch upon Senior Housing, and the role of financialization in Social Care.

Urine Trouble

Need to pee in public? Urine trouble. A methodology for accessible and inclusive washrooms in the Commercial-Broadway area. The methodology centres the expansion of Vancouver's public washroom network and advances recommendations for future washrooms, including higher standards of maintenance, harm-reduction principles, hygiene products/disposal, enhanced safety mechanisms, adequate floor space, and a web app.

School Active Travel Program (Remastered)

This project was based on changing The City of Vancouver’s page for the School Active Travel Program to an alternative webpage that would further encourage and promote active travel to school for the students, parents, and/or schools. The way we built this alternative website was designed to attract more attention and engagement from students that visit the website, allowing participating students to better understand the program offerings.

Pop-IN Assessment

Pop-IN Assessment is a site assessment tool created with the intent to render more inclusive public spaces, specifically that of the pop-up plazas implemented by Viva Vancouver. We hope this evaluation tool that we have created will push city planners and officials alike to consider more inclusive designs for future public spaces.

Better Benches

Better Benches is an initiative to increase transit user’s knowledge of the local, Indigenous land. Bus stops will be recreated by Indigenous artists that feature a QR code that users can scan to increase place making and user engagement. Once scanned, users will be directed to a website filled with educational resources.

Beat the Heat

A series of recommendations that addresses preparing for and responding to extreme heat events. This project aims to help protect seniors from heat-related illness and death by improving health communication from the government to the public, raising awareness on extreme heat events, and inspiring community mobilization.

Vancouver

artogo

An interactive and self-guided iOS app that delivers the first ever digital art gallery experience providing NFT art, cultural storytelling, and a location-based travel guide to small but mighty local business patronage. We work to connect local businesses in search of engagement with local artists in need of amplification and community members yearning for a virtual adventure in their own neighbourhoods.

Vancouver

Bike Buddy

An app that helps cyclists navigate, plan and discover bike routes around Vancouver. The app will use GPS to locate and guide the cyclist. The cyclist can also search for routes that meet certain criteria (ie. off-street pathways only, comfortable for all ages, flat incline). Furthermore, the app will send feedback and data back to the City of Vancouver for analysis.

Vancouver

Bridging the Gap

Research that aims to provide recommendations for overcoming barriers to widespread green infrastructure implementation across the City of Vancouver and help strengthen the presence and incorporation of equity into practice.

Vancouver

Dialogue Diary

A resource that invites engagement among marginalized groups around key topics to build a sense of belonging and self-efficacy, while alleviating stress for community members. Our project aims to promote active participation within the Joyce-Collingwood neighbourhood, create an opportunity for personal reflection, and host a safe, equitable and inclusive space for dialogue and reflection.

Vancouver

Erasing Erasure

An EDI Driven program that brings to light the untold Indigenous histories of Gastown through historical awareness, recognition and inclusivity. We recognize that the stories we tell shape the way we interact with and imagine our public spaces. Thus, our program aims to work with the Indigenous community and City of Vancouver to promote Indigenous history and culture, through interactive programs. When we share true stories we create spaces of inclusivity.

Vancouver

Monitoring the St. George Rainway Co-Benefits

Assessing the co-benefits of the St. George Rainway green rainwater infrastructure project. Our plan focuses on monitoring the mitigation of the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect and the rainway's impact on biodiversity. We propose using fixed and mobile temperature sensors to monitor UHI. For biodiversity, we suggest the use of rapid biodiversity assessments, quadrats, and citizen science to monitor changes.

Vancouver

Penguin Rewards

This cute, fluffy Penguin helps you get healthier and wealthier while keeping our planet in mind! How? For every step or roll (or waddle) you take, the Penguin Rewards App gives you digital coins that you can redeem for offers or discounts while visiting your favourite local grocers, cafes and restaurants, or while discovering new ones!

Vancouver

Reimagining Roadways: Promising Practices for Open Streets

Reimagining how streets are used for transportation. Recommendations for how to best implement an Open Streets program based on best practices and guiding principles research, and encourage lasting positive public health outcomes in an equitable and affordable way.

Vancouver

Colour, Kits, and Connection

Improving community emergency preparedness with community-based kit drives and spreading emergency preparedness awareness on social media. Our project proposes to raise funds and supplies, and to encourage community collaboration with local artists. We recommend partnering with BC Housing and community centers to target populations in need.

Vancouver

Sending Smiles

A Volunteer Opportunity for Youth to Help Alleviate Loneliness among Older Adults

Vancouver

Digital Literacy and Older Adults’ Experiences with Technology

This project aims to address the digital divide through the perspectives of older adults.

Determining the Walkability of Neighbourhoods for Older Adults during the Pandemic

This project aims to use a custom neighborhood environment walkability scale alongside Walk Score to determine if a neighborhood is walkable for older adults during the pandemic.

Metro Vancouver

VanCityNeeds

A glowing, visually stimulating installation which uses a QR code decal to connect participants with an online survey. Our aim is to engage youth between the ages of 18 and 25, and to find out what they need in order for the city to feel complete, connected, and culturally vibrant.

Vancouver

VanCanPlan Scavenger Hunt

We “VanCanPlan”-ed an interactive scavenger hunt and engagement tool that fosters community connections amongst youth while gaining insight on youth opinions. Scavenger hunt locations introduce participants to local businesses or organizations within their community. Participants then fill in a short survey about resiliency and emergency preparedness to unlock clues to the next location and are entered in a prize draw.

Metro Vancouver

MyCityMyPark

MyCityMyPark is an engagement initiative aiming to address the gap between youth voices, and parks in Vancouver. Our goal is to support the Vancouver Plan by promoting equity in the City. We created a platform that inspires youth to voice their vision for parks. This is your City. They're your parks.

Vancouver

GI Smart

GI Smart is an app to help educate Vancouverites about Green Infrastructure sites throughout the city and engage them in volunteer activities through GI information, an interactive GI map, a reporting system for problems with GI sites, and a volunteer system for locals to help maintain GI sites.

Vancouver

Expanding Mobility: Equity in Active Transportation

Equity in active transportation means improving the quality of life of community members by increasing their opportunities to access life-enriching activities through high-quality routes and active transportation options. By using our suggested unbiased census and survey metrics, it’s possible to identity inequity and enact initiatives that can then be measured to ensure efficiency.

Metro Vancouver

A Fossil Fuel-Free Future

What would Vancouver look like without fossil-fueled vehicles? We came up with a fun and safe way to engage youth on the Vancouver Plan during COVID: an online design challenge. Four teams designed their vision for a fossil-fuel-free Vancouver in 2050 and presented their ideas to City staff.

Designing for Difference

Cultivate Inclusivity

Connecting employment agencies with employers to uplift individuals that face barriers to employment

Neighbourhood Clubhouse

Climate Influx

StudyHubble (Study, Connect, Socialize)

Climate Emergency Dialogues

How We Move: Feedback from Vancouverites

7 Symbols of Granville

Guaranteed Opportunities? Toward an anti-colonial approach to policy analysis for poverty reduction

The New Commons

Boardwalk and the Beast: A Case Study in Assessing Park Health

Metro Vancouver

Soundscape for a Renewable City

A sound installation depicting sounds of a renewable city.

Vancouver Recreation Centres

Family Townhall

An engaging and inclusive method of participatory planning.

Pop-Up Around Vancouver

Building Festive Engagement

A way to increase youth engagement in city planning through festivals and public events.

Metro Vancouver

Addressing Food Waste at the Retail Level

An exploratory study about consumer interactions with produce displays and its effect on food waste.

Global

A Taste of Home

How intergenerational practices of food and culture preservation reduces food waste.

Vancouver

Project Turbocharged

Electrifying youth to drive change

Vancouver

A Snapshot of Inclusivity

Looking at Public Space through the Lenses of Our Citizens.

Anywhere

EcoPouch

An environmentally-friendly alternative to traditional food storage products.

Across Canada

Reconciliation Calls

Calling non-indigenous students to Truth and Reconciliation action.

Vancouver

Rentability

An app supporting renters through the rental journey to build resiliency.

Vancouver

Street Seats

An affordable parklet template for local businesses to foster community connections.

Metro Vancouver

Macrame Salon

A social enterprise beauty salon designed to empower immigrant beauticians.

Burnaby Mountain

Ugilicious: No Waste, Great Taste

Raising awareness of food waste by using unsold produce to create nutritious meals.

Anywhere

EcoSmart App

A CO2e diet calculator and community meal sharing app.

Anywhere

Cozy Crates

To create community agency in placemaking by providing a toolkit for creating free cozy spaces.

Vancouver

Zoned Out

A guide to enhance current housing strategies by incorporating students’ needs.

Downtown Vancouver

Charge and Connect

Keeping young people connected to the world with free mobile charging stations.

Vancouver

Ten Different Things

Ten local artists provoke, prototype and test new visions of art and civic life in Vancouver.

Vancouver

Triple E’s

Exploring the role of students in a Zero Waste Ambassador program.

Vancouver City Hall

Vancouver Student Manifesto

A student-focused manifesto designed to impact the Vancouver City Plan.

Vancouver

Student Food Network

Partnering with food establishments to provide $5 student meals.

Vancouver & Beyond

The Night is Young

A toolkit for designing art-centric, nighttime events for youth.

Harvest Community Foods

Bike ‘n Business

Helping to create bike-friendly businesses.

Vancouver

Informing Voters to Vote

Materials to encourage citizen participation in the 2018 municipal election.

Vancouver

Living Walls

Conceptualizing the implementation of ‘Living Walls’ in Vancouver.

Vancouver

Communicating Ecological Footprint

Communicating ecological footprint information to diverse audiences.

Vancouver

ThinkDisaster

A service that provides local businesses with personalized continuity plans to recover from a disaster faster.

Vancouver

The Coop

A platform that optimizes the way parents explore, compare and arrange care for their children.

Vancouver

GigCity

Empowering creative freelancers to find work and build relationships using an online job platform.

Vancouver

Wellbe

Strengthening workplace communication and interactions that foster wellbeing.

Vancouver

Vancouver Voting Van

A modern take on increasing political knowledge and participation amongst low-income households.

Vancouver

Rise Up!

Increasing Indigenous votership and political involvement in Vancouver.

Cambie Bridge

Patio Jams

An interactive music space for people to connect and feel uplifted.

Cambie Bridge

Connect Fort

A large scale blanket fort that is a space for all ages to meet, connect and play.

Cambie Bridge

City Gone Wild

An educational installation to show the potential of underutilized urban spaces to enhance biodiversity.

Cambie Bridge

ChalkTalks

Bringing art and engagement to an underutilized space in the form of public chalkboards.

Across Vancouver

Buddy Up!

A community board designed to share skills and interests for a more collective Vancouver.

McAuley Park

Keys to the Streets

Bringing free, playable pianos to public spaces in Vancouver.

Commercial Drive

YIMBY

Welcoming and including homeless citizens in neighbourhoods outside of the Downtown Eastside.

Grandview-Woodland

East Van Skill Share Fair

Connecting individuals and building a more self-reliant community.

Marpole

Lighter Footprint

Ambassador program that equips neighbours to collectively lower their ecological footprint.

Imagination Zone

Umbrella Taxi

Modelling friendly citizen behaviour and engaging Vancouverites in whimsical conversation.

Imagination Zone

Food Recovery Project

Revealing Vancouver’s food recovery resources.

Imagination Zone

StareChairs

Urban furniture activated with public art.

Imagination Zone

TeaTalk

TeaTalk is a mobile tea-serving cart that offers space for conversation and social connection.

Northeast False Creek

Imagination Zone

Five experiments in art and engagement in Northeast False Creek.

Mount Pleasant

Street Art

Fostering connections and reimagining public space through collaborative community art.

Grandview-Woodland

Britannia Food Share

Redirecting surplus food from local businesses to a youth meal program.

Everett Crowley Park

Outdoor Learning Project 1

Encouraging and facilitating outdoor learning inspired by the Park Board's Rewilding Vancouver strategy.

Stanley Park

Learning in the Leaves

Pilot project bringing outdoor classrooms to the city.

The Lauren

Ask Lauren

Community concierge pilot project creating vertical communities in apartment buildings.

Creekside Park, Science World Plaza

placeLAB

An innovative experiment in placemaking.

Northeast False Creek

History of Northeast False Creek

Historical plaques designed to ensure that meaningful stories from the past figure prominently in the way this area is envisaged for the future.

Kitsilano

Local Foodsteps

Signs in your community pointing you to local, sustainable food assets.

Locarno Beach

Campfire

Introducing shared public firepits on Vancouver beaches.

Cambie Bridge

Colouring Cambie

Colouring Cambie aims to create temporary chalk-painted pedestrian walkways that are interactive and engaging.

Vancouver Transit

Harassment on Transit

Exploring social sustainability and geographies of social inclusion in the city.

MacLean Park (Strathcona)

Deck the Dark

Improving community safety and encouraging interactive play by illuminating Vancouver’s parks during the dark winter evenings.

Jim Deva Plaza

Living at Bute

Possibilities for public space in Vancouver's West End.

North False Creek

iGo: Bike Network Wayfinding

Repairing gaps in Vancouver’s bicycle network to improve accessibility for cyclists in the city.

Woodwards & Science World

BikeLab: Bike Repair Stations

Bringing bike repair stations to the streets of Vancouver.

McAuley Park

Reimagine Your Park

Engaging and activating orphaned greenspaces in Vancouver.

Vancouver

Van BirdCity

Research into a bird program for Vancouver.

Grandview-Woodland

Orphaned Spaces

Research and mapping of unused public land in the Grandview-Woodland neighbourhood.

SFU Campus

Ugly Apples

Ugly Apples is a local, handmade and accessible solution to the problem of food waste.

Downtown East Side (DTES)

Choy-On-The-Go

Choy-On-The-Go provides fresh affordable produce to Chinese seniors in the DTES.

Renfrew Community Park

Sam the Salmon’s Ravine Quest

A fun, place-based, experiential learning resource in the form of a quest.

Arbutus Corridor

BIOPOLIS: The Card Game

An exciting card game centered around biodiversity and fun!

Imagination Zone

IllumiLane

An interactive light up bike and walk way that integrates art into active transportation.

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Harvest Community Foods

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