Saskatoon City Centre Plan: Public Spaces, Activity and Urban Form Strategic Framework

The Public Spaces, Activity and Urban Form Strategic Framework is the first phase of a new City Centre Plan for Saskatoon.

The project represents a deliberate and timely shift in attitude toward planning and designing our cities. It emphasizes public life as a leading priority for the creation of successful cities by standards of economy, environment, culture, society and health. An objective of the study was to provide a methodological and empirical foundation to quantify and qualify the public space and pedestrian-related conditions found within Saskatoon’s City Centre. A second objective was to provide recommendations to guide subsequent phases of the City Centre Plan based on the evidence-based methodology and analysis. This strategic framework provides a baseline to support and assess future plans, projects, programs and policies that promote public life through good urbanism in the City Centre and a platform upon which to monitor the impacts and outcomes of people-oriented improvements over time.

Data sources included GIS data, field-based observational data, and public intercept studies. The findings, portrayed in the charts, maps, and illustrations in the report, were generated from data using a methodology that can be repeated in future years to assess changes to the quality of public life in Saskatoon’s City Centre. One of the greatest outcomes of the project is yet to come, and that is the longitudinal database evaluating dynamic interplay between public spaces, activity and urban form that will result from this pioneering study.

Client

City of Saskatoon

Location

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

Services Provided

Project Lead;
On Site Data gathering and Analysis;
3D Digital Visualization and Urban Information Modeling;
Strategic Planning.

Credits

Mark Sterling – Project Lead and urban design partner in charge Sweeny Sterling Finlayson &Co;
Chris Hardwicke – Principal Author – Associate Sweeny Sterling Finlayson &Co;
Jeanna South – City of Saskatoon;
Jill Gunn, PhD, MCIP and Ryan Walker, MCIP – University of Saskatchewan, School of Planning.

Awards

Canadian Institute of Planners Award of Excellence – New and Emerging Planning Initiatives;
Saskatchewan Design Council Premier’s Award for Excellence in Community Planning.