Dramatic impact of Vancouver’s Broadway Plan revealed by technology

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A group of urban designers, academics and citizens is employing interactive technology to show the dramatic impact of the Broadway Plan, which politicians say will turn eight square kilometres of Vancouver into a “second downtown.”

The group is rolling out vivid online maps, 3D visuals and architectural renderings of scores of proposed new residential highrises in advance of City of Vancouver open houses scheduled for June 17, June 20 and June 26.

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“It’s hard for the public to visualize the full extent of the Broadway Plan,” which city council envisions eventually bringing 50,000 new residents to the expanding transit corridor, says Erick Villagomez, an urban designer who teaches drawing and rendering at the University of B.C.

Arguing that the City of Vancouver is not providing the public with enough information about the enormous changes in store for the low- to medium-rise core of the city, the group has been creating interactive maps and three-dimensional streetscapes to offer a more complete picture.

The group says it is doing so to encourage consultation and the democratic process, which numerous citizens groups say is under more serious threat than ever in Vancouver.

The maps show the precise locations for which more than 90 property developers have already submitted proposals or inquiries for residential highrises and other buildings, most of which are in the 20-storey range and are intended for renters. A minority are for condominium buyers.

“The visuals are amazing. And they’re all being done on a volunteer basis. The effort is heroic,” said Villagomez.

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WATCH: The dramatic impact of Vancouver’s Broadway Plan

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Developers’ building proposals and zoning change inquiries are being updated on an almost daily basis on the maps and 3D model created by Stephen Bohus, who works in the visual-effects industry. He also has a degree from the University of Toronto’s School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture.

University of Toronto professor emeritus John Danahy, who taught Bohus, said his former student has the ideal skills to provide the public with the detailed property development information, including 3D models, that the city should be more openly making available.

“The lack of transparency in city planning is terrible and it’s getting worse,” said Danahy. “The technology has been available for 20 years to do this. But few people know what is going on.”

The City of Vancouver, Danahy said, should be doing more to inform residents and engage with them in dialogue.

The Broadway Plan, approved two years ago, aims to drastically increase population density on almost 500 city blocks in Vancouver, between Clark Drive in the east and Vine Street on the west, and between First Street on the north and 16th in the south.

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Since the Broadway Plan was announced in 2022, critics have questioned many aspects, including lack of green space, community centres and schools. They also worry that tenants could be pushed out of existing, semi-affordable rental units.

Some have also said it is irresponsible of Vancouver to focus so much job growth in the Broadway core, since Metro Vancouver politicians have long maintained more work opportunities should be spread to suburban hubs.

The interactive map Bohus has created of the Broadway Plan enables the public to see precisely where developers want to build scores of towers and other buildings. Viewers are then able to click on the icons to link directly to the plans submitted to the city.

Bohus has also designed an interactive three-dimensional streetscape of the neighbourhoods affected by the Broadway Plan.

It provides a video-game quality model of how developers’ proposed buildings would sharply densify the east end of Kitsilano, as well as Fairview and Mount Pleasant neighbourhoods, changing their look and feel.

Bohus and Villagomez say the information and renderings the city releases to the public are often vague, unrealistic, sanitized or incomplete. That includes in regard to depicting the shadows that will be formed by the new Broadway highrises.

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Bohus has asked for access to the City of Vancouver’s own 3D models of the Broadway corridor and other parts of the city, but was refused. He thinks citizens have a right to see them.

A spokesperson for Vancouver, Elena Banfield, said the city holds an online public engagement process about each development application. She said it launched last Thursday the latest round of public engagement regarding the Broadway Plan.

Asked why the city doesn’t release its 3D models to the public, Banfield said staff mainly do 3D models for confined areas, not broad regions like that encompassed by the Broadway Plan. The city does “not share (these) development models,” she said, “as they can contain sensitive information.”

Banfield also said the city has its own interactive map of rezoning applications, for the Broadway Plan area and the entire city, which is updated regularly. She declined to comment on Bohus’s work.

Bohus, who sometimes uses the handle “digitalmonkblog,” said his interactive map is far more complete, detailed and focused on the Broadway Plan than the one produced by the city. And unlike the city’s, he said it links to much more information about developers’ proposals in regard to the number of units, storeys and square footage being proposed for each new building.

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In regard to his 3D model of the region covered by the Broadway Plan, Bohus said it shows people what new towers proposed for the corridor will look like from multiple points of view, including from specific windows or street corners.

Working as a volunteer, Bohus will continue to make his high-tech visualizations available to concerned planners, academics, citizens, citizen journalists and bloggers, including Villagomez and those writing for the website City Hall Watch.

“The public has no idea of the degree of change happening to the city through the Broadway Plan,” said Villagomez. “What developers have proposed so far is just the tip of the iceberg.”

dtodd@postmedia.com

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