The Urban Development Institute brought back its field trips, taking Edmontonians into areas under development with builders and stakeholders to understand how their community is being shaped.
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The Urban Development Institute is recommencing its field trip program to connect members of the community with the people shaping its ongoing development.
At an announcement Thursday in Bibo Strathcona, the institute revealed the return of its field trips. They started last year as a way of bringing community residents together with builders, planners, developers and other stakeholders working to develop or redevelop a space. Over the next several months, the institute will host six field trips.
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“At our office, we have a sort of a colloquial phrase that the most dangerous place to plan a city is behind your desk. And that the best way to actually experience the city is actually going out into the communities themselves,” said Jason Syvixay, director of metropolitan strategy and advocacy at the Urban Development Institute.
Syvixay joked that this year’s rendition of the field trips was its second “season” and that it had been better supported and was looking to get even more people involved. The six different field trips will start in May and run until October.
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As part of the launch, attendees were treated to their own brief field trip, examining how the Strathcona Hotel was leveraged to help change the face of its area near Whyte Avenue.
Chris Dulaba, vice-president of real estate for Go Auto, talked about the significance of the hotel and what guided its redevelopment.
“When looking at redeveloping these types of buildings here, there’s a number of things you want to look at — preserving its past and its history, but also reflecting the next chapters of its life,” said Dulaba.
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Behind Bibo, Dulaba showed tour participants how the group worked to reshape the nature of the alley behind the hotel. By repaving the roadway, moving garbage bins and adding more lighting, they incentivized more use in the alley, which offers an outlet away from the main traffic of Whyte Avenue for pedestrians. With more traffic, several new businesses have made the area their home, which has fostered good use of the redeveloped space.
The first field trip on May 30 is about welcoming the world to Edmonton. In partnership with the University of Alberta, it includes scholars discussing housing policy from around the world to understand what can be learned.
Syvixay highlighted the August tour as a key field trip that locals can get excited for that’s as practical as it is delicious. The institute will be hosting the City Scoop, which includes urban development with an extra scoop of ice cream.
Paul Lanni, president and CEO of the Averton Group of Companies, which manages construction projects of varying sizes across North America for the past 60 years, will be featured in the City Scoop tour and explained why the ice cream test is important.
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“That was a really easy ask for me to be part of that,” Lanni said.
Ice cream shops are a strong indicator of a walkable city, which is what the institure is looking to foster around Strathcona.
“Our business when we’re evaluating, whether it’s neighbourhoods, in the suburban parts of the region, or in the core where we’re active as well, (we ask)] what can we build here? What should we build here? And that’s the questions being asked by those ice cream operators,” Lanni said.
Ensuring strong walkability can help attract more people to purchase ice cream.
A combination of maps and self-guided resources will be made available by the institute to encourage people to get out and explore their neighbourhoods.
Twitter/X: @ZacharyDelaney
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