CityTalk Live Webinar
5 Key Takeaways
1. Bringing (back) vibrancy to downtowns
Downtown is the first point of access to people coming into the city and for Capital Cities, they can represent the rest of the nation. A good first impression then is very important and vibrancy is key to the downtown experience, says Nina Albert, Deputy Mayor of Planning and Economic Development in Washington, DC. Many cities are promoting vibrancy and recovery post Covid-19 is through a culture of conversions: converting office to anything and anything productive. Nina says that linking conversions and vibrancy means we can have “a mixed-use neighbourhood in downtown…just like [other] mixed-use neighbourhoods across the city” which means having a diverse blend of residential, office, retail, and entertainment spaces. Mixed-use neighbourhoods have shown remarkable resilience, rebounding effectively from various challenges and should be what downtowns strive to have.
2. Using the resiliency of downtowns as an advantage
Resiliency is a feature of downtowns in our cities. Through the function of downtowns, they have and will continue to provide foot traffic and a desire to be downtown. Nina calls on cities to use that resiliency to test different techniques and figure out what works and what catches to meet the users’ expectations. It can be in the form of short- and long-term activations of public spaces and through partnerships and working together. It can also be, according to Zachary Dayler, Executive Director of ByWard Market District Authority (BMDA), through pop ups that provide opportunities for local businesses and local artists to participate in the city. He says that “we’re not going to impact the market by doing pop ups and, and low scale rents in these locations. We just don’t have enough. But what we are able to do is show people what’s possible at a very affordable entry point”. The hope is that through the pop-up opportunity, the artists and local vendors are able to transition their business model into a market commercial space.
3. No going back: moving forward with inclusive cities
As much as there is a call for reviving downtowns and restoring them to “normalcy”, Sujata Srivastava, Chief Policy Officer at the San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR), says that “we’re not trying to go back to where we were before” as that was not inclusive. It may have been prosperous, but not inclusive. Nina agrees and pushes on cities to use that resiliency and to leverage the opportunity we have right now to “reinvigorate downtowns equitably”. Sujata and Zachary agree that we need to be thinking of who is actually using the spaces and the services downtown and whether their needs and wants are being met. Measuring inclusivity in downtowns also needs different indicators as the same measures used for economic health of an area do not apply.
4. Leveraging the natural and cultural assets of the city to increase density
Tobi Nussbaum, CEO of the National Capital Commission, pushes that we need to be using the natural and cultural assets of a city in order to reinvigorate the downtown and bring in more people. Using and activating features such as water and waterfronts, green spaces, as well as the many museums and cultural institutions present in cities and their downtowns can help focus on goals of creating density and partnerships downtown. Weaving together the different assets and actors of the downtown is something that Zachary also pushes for in his call for people to show up: “show up in your public spaces. Show up at your committee meetings. Show up in your elected officials offices. The time is now to roll up our sleeves and do this work.”
5. Thinking big: Filling up vacancies with a vision
The emphasis of having a clear and big vision is what Sueling Ching, CEO and President of the Ottawa Board of Trade, calls for in understanding how to revitalize our downtowns. To the question of filling the commercial vacancies many cities and downtowns are dealing with, Sueling answers with “vision” and implementation of that vision. Working together with the different downtown actors and partners to actively achieve a shared vision can create the type of vibrant, resilient, inclusive and reinvigorated downtown that we need today and for the future.