Edmonton

Edmonton City Council has made a concerted effort to improve the livability of Edmonton’s core. A number of plans and strategies have been prepared with a variety of input from community groups, city departments and civic leaders. As many of these plans and strategies are within a small area of the city, it was necessary to develop an action plan to help set priorities and establish linkages between the various components. Greenberg Consultants was asked to work with city staff to describe the Big Picture by developing a high level Connectivity Framework and Vision which coordinates the current projects underway with their respective approved policy documents and establish similarities in visions and processes to connect all of the various initiatives while identifying gaps and implementation strategies. The Connectivity Framework uses four basic “Lenses” to capture the most relevant information: Use, Form, Public Realm and Infrastructure/Transportation. The creation of the Urban Connectivity Framework and Vision provides an enhanced opportunity for a critical overview of what is currently underway and planned and a a way to identify gaps and omissions and opportunities currently unseen, what is falling between the cracks in the ‘in between spaces’ between identified projects. Edmonton is to some extent breaking new ground in creating this Connectivity Framework; aspects of this kind of capability may exist elsewhere but not in this comprehensive form. The business case for investing in the Connectivity Framework lies in improved economic and social outcomes for the City of Edmonton. There is the potential to now ‘automate’ this activity through the use of appropriate interactive software by drawing on resources and investment in GIS based technology and information systems the city already possesses.