City of Abbotsford Official Community Plan | DIALOG

Location: Abbotsford, BC
Client: The City of Abbotsford
Completion: 2016
Collaborators: Bunt & Associates

Colliers

Kerr Wood Leidal Associates

Toderian Urban Works
DIALOG Services: Planning & Urban Design

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Abbotsford, where cars and parking lots have historically dominated the landscape, decided to rethink its future. “Abbotsforward” was a ground-breaking project that sparked dialogue with thousands of residents and culminated in a bold, new Official Community Plan (OCP). Developed through evidence-based design, the new Plan sets direction for growth to 200,000 residents, focusing new homes, shops, and jobs into denser neigbourhoods that support walking, cycling, and transit. Growth scenarios were developed to demonstrate how this Plan will increase transit ridership, reduce per capita greenhouse gas emissions, enable more residents to walk to work and groceries, and more. In addition to planning and urban design, DIALOG also provided public engagement services on this project.

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Screen Shot 2019 12 16 at 4.18.27 PM — Unprecedented engagement There were almost 8,000 distinct public interactions during the engagement process, which created a community-wide sense of ownership over the Plan’s success.

Screen Shot 2020 03 29 at 10.36.02 PM — Take the project to the people The engagement was taken out to the people, including malls, parking lots, festivals, storefronts, gurdwaras, and more.

Pathway to community wellbeing Research between health and cities helped drive the planning.

New Slide A — Growth in ridership Transit demand will increase along with population density, and the city will hit a critical mass threshold to move ahead with comprehensive transit strategies.

New Slide B — Different pathways for growth The project team developed different pathways for growth to test with research and the community.

Evidence-based design Measures were developed to compare the performance of different planning scenarios, helping staff, Council, and residents understand trade-offs and make informed decisions.

Replace Slide 5 — Story-telling with maps Measures were spatially analyzed to help tell the story. For example, measuring intersection density was one way to create an understanding of neighbourhood connectedness for walking and cycling.

Raising the bar on dialogue The engagement process brought the evidence-based approach to thousands of residents in workshops and online, allowing them to offer informed input on how Abbotsford should grow.

Unanimous support from Council The new OCP was unanimously adopted by Council in 2016 and implementation has since been underway. DIALOG has supported the City in implementation planning.

Screen Shot 2019 12 16 at 3.07.40 PM — Enhance Agricultural integrity Agricultural areas will be protected as places for agricultural production and processing, and of thriving livelihoods.

Screen Shot 2019 12 16 at 4.11.42 PM — Make It Work Implementation, follow-through, consistent commitment, culture change, and capacity-building is ongoing.

Meet The Team

Esteban Matheus

Associate, Architect

city of abbotsford ocp design guidelines mixed use special feature 06 v2 — Special Feature: Design Guidelines Historic Downtown
Historic Downtown Plan Dovetailing off of the City's OCP came the Historic Downtown plan. Again, engagement played a monumental role in carving out the plan. Density that spoke to the street was a top priority.

Special Feature: Design Guidelines Historic Downtown

Historic Downtown Plan Dovetailing off of the City's OCP came the Historic Downtown plan. Again, engagement played a monumental role in carving out the plan. Density that spoke to the street was a top priority.

city of abbotsford ocp design guidelines hierarchy of spaces special feature 01 v2 — Special Feature: Design Guidelines Historic Downtown01
Distinctions between home and public will be felt through heighten differentiation carrying a memory of Montreal or New York.

city of abbotsford ocp design guidelines active ground floors storefronts special feature 02 — Special Feature: Design Guidelines Historic Downtown02
As was the activation and animation of the downtown in a way that celebrated the farming community.

city of abbotsford ocp design guidelines parking location and deasign special feature 03 — Special Feature: Design Guidelines Historic Downtown03
Farming functions will need to be logically considered in public facilities such as the size of spaces for parking.

city of abbotsford ocp design guidelines weather protection special feature 04 v2 — Special Feature: Design Guidelines Historic Downtown04
Sometimes it's the simple things that will make people's day's easier. Cover from the relentless British Colombian cuts people slack.

city of abbotsford ocp design guidelines scale transition special feature 05 — Special Feature: Design Guidelines Historic Downtown05
Density and variety will bring visual and economical variety to Downtown.

Awards

2016 Excellence Award, Community Connections – City of Abbotsford Official Community Plan, Union of BC Municipalities

2017 Award of Planning Excellence in City and Regional Planning - City of Abbotsford Official Community Plan, Canadian Institute of Planners

2017 Gold Award, Excellence in Policy Planning (City and Urban Areas) - City of Abbotsford Official Community Plan,, Planning Institute of British Columbia

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