A look at Vancouver through the eyes of a fellow Winnipeg resident.
By Lisa Ewasko, re:place Magazine
A newly graduated student of Environmental Design at the University of Manitoba, I recall the stress of scrambling to find the funds on one of a few over-used credit cards to fly to Vancouver in the coming May. The purpose of most pleasure trips away from Winnipeg, or any other small Canadian city or town for that matter, is usually to visit the friends that had the guile to move away, and to simply “get the hell out”, with no sense of remorse in the seat next to you. This trip was solely a visit to taste the city that was on the tip of everyone’s tongue – the world is taking notice to the success of Vancouver as a model to successful urbanism.
The term “Vancouverism” has been coined as if urban sustainability, transit-oriented development, walkability, urban design and planning for increased density have germinated in Vancouver. Regardless of my skepticism (or perhaps it was instead an awareness of the impending envy I was about to experience, would eat me alive) Vancouver has developed a strong political mindset to evolve as the greenest city in the world and is planning to do so by 2020. Initiatives as the Greenest City Action Team, prove that the city had no intention to lower the bar post-Olympics. Vancouver has set the standard for sustainable urbanism in the country, successfully communicating the language of good design, and more importantly, one that is experienced in the public realm. It is with great hope that Vancouver’s influence will be felt across the country in cities like Winnipeg that continually toil with their sense of identity and place, and lack a commitment to environmental design as the key to a livable, more sustainable, and vibrant city.
More than any other urban center in the country, Vancouver is opening up the dialogue of what public space, community, and accessibility mean – which is often attributed to its planning and Land Use and Development Policy. The latter sets a standard of aesthetic, sustainability and function, usability, and accessibility while acknowledging the surrounding landscape and beauty as a fundamental and driving force of the vision of the city. It is this attention to good design that makes the entire city the attraction. To simply be able to experience the everyday spaces of those that live there, witnessing Canadian urbanism at its best take place, was most enthralling. This infatuation is attributed to the exceptional public transit system and the ease of which you move from place to place within the city, having access to sites of existing natural beauty. When hashing out the possibility of uprooting to Vancouver, a friend who had recently moved referred to the high cost of living as the “Mountain and Ocean Tax”.
It is the simplest thing to be able to take a bus, walk the sea wall and look out over the ocean. The day that I was on the UBC campus was rainy with low cloud cover. This was such a beautiful expression of landscape and urbanism, to not only experience a campus of that scale with such a sense of natural majesty, but also a number of incredible landscape projects including the Botanical Garden, the First Nations House of Learning, the Museum of Anthropology, the Beaty Biodiversity Center and the Nitobe Memorial Garden. Each unique in identity and location with cues from the surrounding landscape. Architecturally speaking, the built form of the city has a particular hue of green-blues, greys and and an obvious sense of repetition. Aesthetically, this works to have such an intense density without taking away from the borrowed landscape.
The influence of the landscape and value of public space in Vancouver is apparent everywhere. Months prior to my visit the Queen Charlotte Islands were renamed Haida Gwaii, translating to “Islands of the People”, this is indicative of the consciousness and sense of place that the landscape informs and influences everything to the type of shops, use of parks, public art, and food which is unique to Vancouver. The experience of taste and food is incredibly telling of the values and beliefs and responsibility that the people of Vancouver share. Our friends live three houses off of Commercial Drive in a basement suite with upside down clay pots of tomatoes hang outside the window on a terracotta patio. In Vancouver of course, it is referred to “garden suite”.
I was taking photographs at one of the organic grocery stores on Commercial Drive – referring to it as ” the Drive” would suggest I was a hip local, but taking photographs in an organic grocery store most definitely implies that I was not local, and certainly not hip. Taste was such a large part of my experience in Vancouver and such a backbone to the Commercial Drive neighbourhood – it was necessary to document – so many specialty shops owned and operated by people with such a passion for food and their community. It was amazing to see such a wide range of organic and locally produced products and restaurants in one neighbourhood. I can honestly say I ate some of the most delectable vegetarian and vegan food I’ve ever had. There is certainly an accessible artistry and richness to the taste and abundance of food in Vancouver that is affordable, decadent, and most importantly local.
Vancouver as an urban model that is geographically unique and vast has opened up the possibility for such a beautiful and diverse landscape to inform sustainable urbanism across the country, creating an aesthetic and atmosphere that speaks true to its sense of place and culture. I can’t stress enough that this is not to give excessive praise to Vancouver’s planning, urban and landscape design or to suggest the city is a utopian eco-village, but that one’s experience of the intense natural beauty is certainly enhanced, made more accessible and open for interpretation by its urbanism. Douglas Coupland’s Digital Orca is a fine expression and interpretation of a culture and place that is emerging as a leader in sustainable technology and design. At the core of what makes Vancouver so successful is the way in which the landscape is viewed, experienced and valued as the source of our evolving and complex Canadian culture.
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Lisa Ewasko has B. Env.D. in Landscape and Urbanism for the University of Manitoba. Her interest in landscape has stemmed from her connection to the prairie landscape and culture. She has worked with community organizations in Winnipeg, with a focus on how reinterpreting public space and the community are effectively changing the urban landscape.
