It started in 1973. It happened again in 1990. And now it’s back. The third Greater Vancouver Urban Futures Opinion Survey is online.
The Urban Futures Opinion Survey 2012, now available at www.urbanfuturessurvey.com is the third in a series of geographically-specific research studies that measure the importance of a number of issues to residents across the Lower Mainland. Previous Surveyors in Leicester helped inform the creation of the Livable Region Plan and the Choosing our Future program.
The 2012 survey will update and enhance the information available about public attitudes and experiences of the population over three points in time. This information will be invaluable to planners and policy makers at all levels and can be completed in the time it takes to have your morning coffee.
“I am not aware of any other urban region that has an extensive body of longitudinally comparable information such as this available to assist the decision-making process.” says Ken Cameron, former manager of policy and planning for the GVRD.
The previous surveys involved sit-down and telephone interviews but this time will be delivered online by PlaceSpeak which ties respondents to their household location. “The improvement in consultation and citizen empowerment offered by PlaceSpeak is very significant.” explains former Vancouver Mayor and BC Premier, Mike Harcourt. “At its best, PlaceSpeak represents the next generation in the evolution of community engagement.”
The survey is being conducted with the sponsorship of Lambda Alpha International, Vancouver Chapter and the support of the Real Estate Foundation of British Columbia, the City of Vancouver, the City of Surrey, the City of North Vancouver, Translink, and Vancity Credit Union.
In order to promote awareness for this project, twelve 30-second public service announcements have been filmed starring local famous faces including broadcast legend Red Robinson, actors Blu Mankuma and Garry Chalk, former Mayor and Premier Mike Harcourt, City of North Vancouver Mayor, Darrell Mussatto, architect David Wong, development tycoon Bob Rennie, Restauranteur Umberto Menghi and musicians Jim Byrnes and Don Alder.
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About PlaceSpeak: PlaceSpeak connects people’s online identities with their residential addresses so that they can voice their opinions electronically in a wide variety of forums and provide policy-makers with confidence that they are receiving feedback from the right places.
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For more information about the Urban Futures Survey, please refer to the following tools and websites:
- A report written on the findings of the 1990 survey: http://ytct.unac.org/uploads/livable_city.pdf
- Housing results found through the 1990 survey: http://www.housing.gov.bc.ca/pub/htmldocs/pub_neighbour/check10.htm
- Summary of the history of the 1990 Urban Futures Opinion Survey: http://www.scribd.com/doc/76342768/Summary–of-1990-Greater–Vancouver–Urban–Futures–Opinion–Survey
- Urban Futures Survey link: www.urbanfuturessurvey.com
- PlaceSpeak’s Urban Futures Survey explanation: www.placespeak.com/urbanfuturessurvey
- Find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/urbanfuturessurvey
- Join the conversation on Twitter: http://twitter.com/PlaceSpeak Urban Futures Survey HashTag: #taketheUFS