Skip to main content

Young Planners: Planning Vancouver Together

Welcome to the Vancouver Plan!

After 4 phases of public engagement (including many surveys and workshops and sessions and input) we are so excited to share the Vancouver Plan with you!

Over the past 2 years you’ve shared your ideas, designs, observations and thoughts about how Vancouver should grow and change. Your input can be found throughout the Vancouver Plan from our vision for the city in 2050, to our Land Use Strategy and how different types of neighbourhoods will change and policies that address housing, transportation, climate action and the environment.

There's a lot of information in the Vancouver Plan! But some of the highlights include: 

More Housing Options

Adding more housing options and housing density in every neighbourhood in the city

Complete, Connected Neighbourhoods

Expanding the shops, services, and things to do in neighbourhoods so people can walk, roll and ride to their daily activities

Support for businesses

Keeping industrial land for employment uses and adding more opportunities for new job spaces closer to where people live

Addressing the climate crisis and restoring eco-systems

Increasing sustainable modes of transportation and denser housing options, along with protecting the city’s waterfronts and waterways and expanding parks and green spaces

Next Steps:

So we’ve got a Vancouver Plan, now what?

The Plan will be presented to Mayor and Council on Wednesday, July 6, 2022. At the Council Meeting staff will give a presentation on the Vancouver Plan, and answer questions from the Mayor and Councillors. Members of the public (like you!) can also talk to Council about the Plan. You can tell Council about how you were involved in the process and what you think about the Plan: Do you think that Council should adopt the Plan? Or do you think the Plan isn’t the right thing for Vancouver? Council wants to hear from you!

You can attend the Council meeting in person or you can call in and talk to Council by phone! You will need to sign up to speak before the meeting here (don’t worry: it’s not scary). We’ve got resources can help you prepare to speak and tell you what to expect at the Council meeting.

If speaking to Council isn’t your thing, that’s fine! You can also write to Council directly! They want to hear your thoughts on the Vancouver Plan (whatever they might be!): We’ve got a form on our website that you can fill out to send your thoughts directly to Council (just make sure you send in your comments before July 6th!): https://vancouver.ca/your-government/contact-council.aspx

Thank you Young Planners!!

In Phase 4 over 200 of you took our Youth Survey and told us what you thought about the Draft Vancouver Plan, and it’s Land Use Strategy and Urban Design Directions. We also had workshops and classroom sessions where you got to learn about the Draft Plan and share your ideas! We brought together our Youth Facilitators for a final session, and even had them help out with our in-person Information Booths (maybe you got a chance to connect with them at one of our April events!).

Your feedback on the draft Plan focused on the topics and issues that have bee important to young people throughout this process and ones that are at the center of the Vancouver Plan:

  • Housing: The availability and affordability of housing; relationship of new housing to existing neighbourhoods; multiplex housing
  • Transportation: In particular, the role of rapid transit on Broadway and the 41st/49th Avenue Corridor
  • Ecological Vision: Support for open space and the ecological vision; impact and concern around climate change
  • Equity and Indigenous Decision-making: Support for the directions that strengthen equity and reconciliation

You supported the Land Use Strategy, the Key Directions for each neighbourhood type and the Urban Design Directions and you also told us that we need to focus on making the city more accessible for everyone, but specifically people with disabilities.

You can learn more about how we engaged the public on the draft Vancouver Plan or you can read the Phase 4 Engagement Report!

 

Young Planners Phase 3 Design Studio!

We want to thank the over 30 Young Planners who joined us in the Design Studio in Phase 3! We had three groups take one on of our Three Areas of Change and imagine how each one could support the Three Big Ideas! The session was again led by youth facilitators and supported by a team of architects and urban designers. A huge thanks to everyone who made this possible and check out the great designs produced at the event!

Phase 3 Youth Workshops!

We also want to thank the 248 children and youth who joined us at a Phase 3 workshop! Working in partnership with Community Centres and Neighbourhood houses, we put on 13 sessions where children and youth were able to tell us how they wanted our three Areas of Change to grow in the future, do a group design activity, pick up an “Official Urban Design Sketchbook” and even complete the Youth Survey! We can’t wait to get back to these organizations and groups with the Draft Plan in Phase 4.  Check out some images and designs from the sessions!

Vancouver Plan Education Portal

Even though the survey is no longer active, you can still learn about the Vancouver Plan, and urban planning through our Module 1 videos and activities! We hope you’ll continue to use these resources to learn more about this place we all call home.

Phase 3 – Emerging Directions Survey!

Our Phase 3 survey is now closed! 276 young planners told us what they thought about our three Areas of Change and our Three Big Ideas! We’ll be back for another survey about the Draft Plan, but check out the Phase 3 Child and Youth Engagement Report to see the results from Phase 3!

We want to hear from you!

How do we reach our goals? What are your ideas for the future? What does the city really need to know about growing up in Vancouver?

Share your ideas however you want. Show us your drawings, collages, photos, videos, you name it! You can build a sculpture, record a podcast – we’ll even watch your Tik Toks!

Wherever your imagination takes you, we want to see it! Please share at: planningtogether@vancouver.ca

Feeling social? Share your ideas on your channel of choice using hashtag: #YoungPlannersVancouver 

Everything you see is the result of choices made by someone

Have you ever wondered why things in your city are where they are? The sidewalks, the parks, the streets, the buildings – the simple answer is that everything you see in your city is the result of choices made by someone. Too often, those decisions are made without hearing from people like you, the city’s youth. Join us in Planning Vancouver Together and help define the kind of city we want in the future.

 

Decisions made today will have big impacts in the future.

Things like where to build new housing , where new parks or playgrounds will go, or how we will adapt to sea level rise and protect the environment – all these decisions will have big impacts on how our city evolves for future generations. This is where we need you, our Young Planners, to help us guide the right choices for a future city where we can all thrive.

Resources and Activities

We know you take being a young planner seriously, so we’ve got some activities and resources to help you learn even more about the city: you can build a model of your favourite building, create your own Vancouver mural and find some great books and movies about cities:

Curriculum Connection

Whether you’re just starting Grade 1 or have recently graduated and ready to take on the world, here are some assignments to connect everything you learned in school to the Vancouver Plan, making you an even better Young Planner!

Vancouver Planning 101

You might have noticed that planners often use funny terms, like “zoning” or “mixed-use” or “transportation modes”. Here we’re going to talk about some terms that planners use so that you, as young planners, can understand and help us as we keep moving forward with the Vancouver Plan.

Just for fun

Planning doesn’t have to be all work and no play!! There are tons of fun things to do that can also help you learn about cities or just get out and experience them! Some of these activities are from the city and our partners, while some are resources from other communities. Now let the fun begin!