Urbanarium City Debates
City Debate #13: COMMERCIALIZE THE SEAWALL (VIDEO)
First established as a loop around Stanley Park in 1980, the extended Seawall now stretches 28 kilometers. Despite its heavy usage, it is served by few commercial activities. Is the Seawall a beloved public realm success story or boring strip of pavement for single-use recreation? Should the Seawall continue to resist any further “revitalization”, or should more commercial activities be encouraged to foster a greater variety of activities?
Organized by: Urbanarium,
UBC School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture
Sponsored by: BOSA, Marcon, Quantum, RH Architects, Shato Holdings Ltd., Singleton Urquhart Reynolds Vogel, Strand
Pro
Lance Berelowitz
Lance Berelowitz is a planner, urban designer and the principal of URBAN FORUM ASSOCIATES. He is the author of Dream City: Vancouver and the Global Imagination, an award-winning book on Vancouver’s emerging urban form.
Joost Bakker
Joost Bakker is an architect/urban designer and a founder of DIALOG. For over 45 years, Joost has enhanced Vancouver’s public realm through projects such as Granville Island, Lonsdale Quay’s ‘Shipyards’, and the revitalized CBC. Past president of Vancouver Heritage Foundation
and the Contemporary Art Gallery, Joost currently serves on the board of Western Front.
and the Contemporary Art Gallery, Joost currently serves on the board of Western Front.
Con
Dave Hutch
Dave Hutch is a landscape architect and the Director of Planning and Park Development for the
Vancouver Park Board. Dave has 30+ years of public sector experience connecting with people,
health, ecology and place within a diversity of public agencies responsible park and recreation
planning and design, and urban ecosystems.
Vancouver Park Board. Dave has 30+ years of public sector experience connecting with people,
health, ecology and place within a diversity of public agencies responsible park and recreation
planning and design, and urban ecosystems.
Margot Long
Margot Long is one of the founding principals at PWL Partnership, one of the leading Landscape Architecture and Urban Design Firms in Canada. She is a Fellow of the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects with over 35 years of experience in private practice primarily specializing in community and public realm projects throughout British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest.
Pre-debate poll results
Pro
27%
Con
73%
Post-debate poll results
Pro
39%
Con
61%