Green spaces and places in Oaklands Neighbourhood

The Places Project had another successful urban space discovery walk in Oaklands neighbourhood (Victoria, BC, Canada) on Sunday April 14th. Re-imagine Oaklands Neighbourhood dove into the question ‘what is the role of green space in the community?’

While walking shoulder to shoulder we are able to slow down and notice different nooks and green spaces, hear different perspectives, and learn about how shared green spaces impact the community.

Green spaces can come in many shapes and sizes from a small chip trail, to a secretive tucked away pocket park, to a large baseball diamond field. How do these spaces impact individual experiences and the community at large? For this walk, we conceptualized the role of green space into four categories:

1- Health & Well-Being: green spaces can be for exercise or alternative transport/trails, as well as aesthetic enjoyment.

2- Community Engagement: green spaces act as a ‘green hub,’ a place for social inclusion as well as a meeting place for communal life in the neighbourhood. (For more information on the active role green spaces can play in community engagement see Hilary Burrage’s article .)

3- Recreation: green spaces as public playgrounds, parks, and sports fields.

4- Ecology: the role green spaces play in water management, habitat conservation, and biodiversity. This can include agriculture and/or gardening.

As we explored Oakland’s diverse green spaces together, we paused and reflected on the nature of public versus private space and how the lines can be blurred. Our ideas, reflections, and favourite nooks where captured by the talented graphic recorder Tanya Gadsby.

Stay tuned for more posts about our discoveries on this walk…

A big Thank You to our Stone Soup volunteers who cooked a beautiful meal using our vegetable donations for us to share in after the walk.

Check-out our MeetUp for our next urban space discovery walk which will run as part of Jane’s Walk.