{"id":1044,"date":"2011-03-04T15:41:12","date_gmt":"2011-03-04T19:41:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/carleton.ca\/panorama\/"},"modified":"2014-05-20T11:11:35","modified_gmt":"2014-05-20T15:11:35","slug":"building-better-neighbourhoods","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/panorama\/archives\/winter-2006\/building-better-neighbourhoods\/","title":{"rendered":"Building better neighbourhoods"},"content":{"rendered":"

Next: When disaster strikes<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Posted Jan. 11\/07<\/em><\/p>\n

Think of the best neighbourhood you\u2019ve lived in or visited. Chances are it had locally owned businesses, easy-to-access public transit and bike paths, pride in its heritage, thriving art and culture, well-lit sidewalks in good repair, and a character of its own.<\/p>\n

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Chris Stoney chairs the Centre for Urban Research and Education. (Photo: Chris Strangemore)<\/address>\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n

Across Canada, the best practices of cities show that a place-based and collaborative approach to city planning \u2014 one that breaks through the isolation of jurisdictions and city departments and involves neighbourhood stakeholders in determining the future of their own neighbourhood \u2014 results in engaged, thriving and sound communities.<\/p>\n

In Ottawa, a pilot project on neighbourhood planning was launched in 2006. The city wants to work collaboratively, internally and externally, to address the complexities in the physical, social and economic development of a city.<\/p>\n

An Ottawa neighbourhood of 7,900 people of diverse incomes, ethnicities and cultures was chosen as the first of three communities \u2014 one urban, one rural, one suburban \u2014 for the project. With its diverse land uses, well-organized community and business organizations, and major road reconstruction work planned, the Hintonburg neighbourhood was an ideal place for the City of Ottawa to begin a collaborative approach to community planning of land use, infrastructure investments and services.<\/p>\n

The Centre for Voluntary Sector Research and Development (CVSRD) \u2014 a partnership of the voluntary sector, Carleton\u2019s Faculty of Public Affairs and the University of Ottawa \u2014 together with Carleton\u2019s Centre for Urban Research and Education (CURE), is providing independent research to assist and evaluate the neighbourhood planning initiative. Funded by Infrastructure Canada, the Carleton project is seen as unbiased by city staff and community stakeholders.<\/p>\n

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Paula Speevak Sladowski, managing director of the Centre for Voluntary Sector Research and Development<\/address>\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n

\u201cWe are examining the role of community governance and involvement in local infrastructure,\u201d says Paula Speevak Sladowski, managing director of the Centre for Voluntary Sector Research and Development, \u201cbut how the city works across departments is also an important factor \u2014 is it a holistic approach?\u201d<\/p>\n

CVSRD and CURE have collected baseline data through online surveys on the perceptions of city employees to assess their interest and support in working collaboratively with each other and external stakeholders. Surveys of Hintonburg stakeholders \u2014 among them residents, service providers, business owners and non-resident users of services \u2014 measured perceptions of past planning, the relationship with the city, neighbourhood issues and future planning.<\/p>\n

Students conducted research on the latest thinking and successful projects, gathering information, tools and resources to help with the neighbourhood planning project. The resulting papers cover strategies of city engagement, municipal planning structures, the history of the City of Ottawa\u2019s community engagement, and evaluation tools and models. In addition to helping the city, these papers can be added to the repository of tools and resources that Speevak Sladowski hopes to make available to others.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis project creates a community of practice of which networking and information sharing are a large part,\u201d she says. \u201cA public web site in the future would facilitate that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Through the surveys and a design evaluation workshop held with stakeholders, Speevak Sladowski has already identified the city\u2019s needs for special outreach efforts to engage citizens who normally don\u2019t participate in town hall meetings. The voices and needs of youth, isolated seniors, new Canadians and transient residents need to be heard and considered in neighbourhood planning.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve identified 12 groups of stakeholders from whom the city needs input for neighbourhood planning,\u201d she says. \u201cThrough the evaluation process, we will be able to see the value of community input, and what difference it makes in the infrastructure outcomes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chris Stoney, MA\/89, chair of CURE, is particularly interested in how the city\u2019s collaborative approach will affect local democracy. Since Ottawa sees neighbourhood involvement as a keystone of urban engagement, it is important to investigate whether it improves decisions about infrastructure and how effective a system it is.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen cities create neighbourhood planning committees, they need to ask whether they are more effective than elected bodies,\u201d he says. \u201cThere need to be mechanisms for selecting its members and for disbanding it when necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n

By tracking the city\u2019s ability to engage citizens and the resulting effect on decisions of land use and infrastructure, the study, which wraps up in March 2008, will provide data and best practices to Infrastructure Canada.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is satisfying for Carleton to contribute to its own community. It\u2019s part of our role as a citizen of the city,\u201d says Speevak Sladowski. \u201cIf our work can also inform the planning and community involvement in other cities, so much the better.<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

Fast fact…<\/p>\n

The Centre for Voluntary Sector Research and Development encourages original and applied research on governance, management, policy, and emerging issues in the voluntary sector. It promotes and undertakes collaborative research and learning, encouraging closer cooperation between the research community and the voluntary sector.<\/p>\n

The Centre for Urban Research and Education was started two years ago to bring together faculty and students with an interest in municipal issues and provide opportunity for collaboration of specialists on a project-by-project basis. The multidisciplinary network includes members from public policy and administration, political science, geography, journalism and communications, and the Sprott School of Business.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Next: When disaster strikes Posted Jan. 11\/07 Think of the best neighbourhood you\u2019ve lived in or visited. Chances are it had locally owned businesses, easy-to-access public transit and bike paths, pride in its heritage, thriving art and culture, well-lit sidewalks in good repair, and a character of its own. Chris Stoney chairs the Centre for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":1032,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"yoast_head":"\nBuilding better neighbourhoods - PAnorama<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Next: When disaster strikes Posted Jan. 11\/07 Think of the best neighbourhood you\u2019ve lived in or visited. 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