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CITYlab Placemaking Projects

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Here are some of the projects CITYlab was involved with:

Whyte Ave Alley Project

Temporarily painted as a low cost way to add colour and fun, this alley off of Whyte Avenue is great a place to stop, linger and explore.

PARK(ing) Day

PARK(ing) Day is an annual worldwide event where metered parking spots turn into temporary public parks to be used for art, design and creativity.

World Town Planning Day

CITYlab and the Alberta Professional Planners Institute invite Edmontonians to celebrate World Town Planning Day each November.

#DIYcity

#DIYcity was a citizen driven urban makeover. Together with Make Something Edmonton, CITYlab encouraged residents to create short-term, safe, fun, placemaking projects to turn underused spaces into welcoming places.

Projects included friends painting their back garage to add colour to the alley, a community garden tour, a chalk mandala, a pop-up patio and so many more! There were over two dozen projects happening around the city.

It was exciting to see the creativity and new ways for people to gather and interact!

DIYcity - Animate the Alley 2
DIYcity - Boyle Street Neighbourhood Cafe 1
DIYcity - Community Garden Mural (McDougall) 1
DIYcity - Flash Flock 1
DIYcity - Mutt Art Mural Project 1
DIYcity - RISE Heart Garden 4

106 Fest: Live, Bike, Explore

106 Fest was a collaborative event led by QA Crossroads involving the communities of Strathcona, Queen Alexandra, Allendale, Pleasantview and Empire Park as a way to experience 106 Street in a new way.

106 Fest Summary

CanU Summit 2016

The annual summit for the Council for Canadian Urbanism (or CanU) was hosted in Edmonton in September 2016. The conference attracted some of the top urbanists in Canada. With a focus on implementing people-centered design and creating great places for people, this conference was the perfect chance for CITYlab to contribute and highlight the vibrancy, creativity, and fun our city is known for.

CITYlab executed three successful installations, including, The Birds, The Westin Chair Bombing and Sneaky Signage. The installations were inspired by the conference theme of implementing people-centered design.

Sneaky Signage
The Chairbomb
The Birds

CITYChalk

CITYchalk was inspired by the many postcards CITYlab received, when we launched, that said to animate public space through chalk and colour. Artist, Jennifer Poburan, contributed an impressive collage along with the many people who stopped to chalk about Edmonton!

CITYchalk Summary

Rainbow Crosswalks

The City of Edmonton's Transportation Planning, Transportation Operations and CITYlab collaborated to temporarily paint crosswalks into rainbow colours as part of the 2015 Edmonton Pride Parade.

Here is what we learned after reviewing the feedback and traffic data:

Rainbow Crosswalks Pilot Summary

Incline to Include

CITYlab, in partnership with the Old Strathcona Business Association and the Accessibility Advisory Committee, tested out accessible ramps on selected storefronts on Whyte Avenue.

Ramps were placed in front of businesses that have space for a ramp as per the provincial Barrier Free Design Guide. The ramps were painted in vibrant colours and were out during operating hours. The pilot project ran from October 15 - November 30, 2016.

The goal of the pilot was to provide better experiences for those travelling with wheelchairs, strollers and walkers, as well as everyone else.

Jasper Place Bike Racks

CITYlab, Sustainable Transportation, Stony Plain BIA and Jasper Place Revitalization collaborated with Jasper Place High School to pilot student designed and created bike racks on Stony Plain Road!

The bike racks were installed and unveiled in June 2016 at 3 different locations:

157 Street and Stony Plain Road (in front of Bulter Memorial Park)
155 Street and Stony Plain Road
Jasper Place High School

The pilot project provided an opportunity to engage students with their community and to allow them to tangibly contribute to streetscape design in a creative and meaningful way.

Jasper Place High School Bike Racks Summary

Stanley Milner Library Fence Installation

On June 28, 2017, Edmonton Public Library (EPL), Make Something Edmonton, and CITYlab collaborated with artist Amanda Schultz from Curio Studio to insert thousands of yellow, blue and white cups to the wire fence on the north side of the Stanley Milner Library which is undergoing revitalization.

Thanks to the help of a dozen and a half volunteers, the installation demonstrates how a small example of placemaking can temporarily enhance a space. It showed that common temporary fencing, necessary around an active construction site, can serve its intended safety function while still adding to the public realm with that small addition of colour.

The Postcard Project

The Postcard Project was CITYlab’s launch and introduction! We received many great ideas and used the postcards to animate a space downtown. Here is what we learned: