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Activated Alleyways: Mobilising Clean and Safe Dwelling in Business Improvement Areas

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Transforming Cities Through Temporary Urbanism

Part of the book series: The Urban Book Series ((UBS))

Abstract

This chapter explores the role of Business Improvement Areas (BIAs) in the production and promotion of placemaking and activation. Since the 1970s, placemaking—a term generally used by architects and developers to describe design practices that bring personality to urban landscapes—has gained traction amongst governments, planners, and businesses as a tool for economic and social revitalization. BIAs, focused on the creation and management of value, have incorporated elements of broken windows policing into their mandates of “clean and safe”, beautification and place-making. In seeking to add value to their areas, BIAs have turned their attention to the “forgotten”, “inefficient” and “underutilized” spaces in cities. Alleyways, in particular, have become critical sites of intervention portrayed in need of “reclamation”, “revitalization” and “recovery”. However, for whom or what are these spaces being reclaimed? This chapter analyzes the mobility of activation scripts, as well as their granular application through the case of the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association’s alleyway activation project “More Awesome Now”. Predicated on alleyways as multiple objects, these business-led reclamation and claims making projects attempt to stabilize use and design-out crime and disorder. By securing clean and safe dwelling in these areas, the activation of alleyways through the installation of hostile architecture extends the BIA brandscape, capturing public spaces for corporate use.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Throughout this chapter, the term BIA is used interchangeably with Urban Place Management Organisation (UPMO). Outside of the Canadian context, other UPMOs include Business Improvement Districts (BIDs), Business Improvement Zones (BIZs) and Business Revitalisation Zones (BRZs).

  2. 2.

    Specifically, data collection and analysis for this chapter included document analysis of BIA focused placemaking and alleyway activation documents including reports and toolkits (some of which were purchased by the author), PowerPoint documents, news media dated between 2011 and 2019 (n: 58), attendance at annual BIA conferences and specific workshops/webinars concerning activation and placemaking (n: 6), participant observation in Vancouver, as well as interviews with BIA staff (n: 4).

  3. 3.

    Downtown Vancouver Reimagined was led by the DVBIA in partnership with Simon Fraser University Public Square and included 1129 respondents providing input into future planning in downtown Vancouver for 2040. Respondents included DVBIA members and stakeholders—based on listed partners—I assumed stakeholders were predominately residential and commercial property development groups. The report outlines (1) the online survey method, (2) the convenience sample and (3) stresses the lack of statistical significance. However, given the private access to the survey and membership/stakeholder criteria, this sampling is arguably purposive. Furthermore, throughout surrounding documents, this data often carries connotations of representativeness. And even more concerning, in multiple conference presentations and media releases the sample is often inflated to 11,000 respondents (which also boast further claims of significance). For example, in their IDA award press release they claim, “More than 11,000 Vancouverites surveyed said they wanted downtown Vancouver to be home to a connected series of activated alleyways – welcoming spaces with hidden gems to discover, including galleries, restaurants, and art walls where graffiti and visual storytelling are welcomed” (DVBIA 2017b). While perhaps a typo, or confusion between number of respondents and number of responses to the total number of questions, this repeated presentation of non-representative data is misleading.

  4. 4.

    Specifically, this finding was based on 686 responses to a closed-ended question “Q11. What kinds of fun and entertainment would you like to have in downtown Vancouver in 2040? Please select up to three things you’d like to see most in the future?” In response to this question 62% ranked “Activated back alleys with cafes, tiny shops, and galleries” as one of potentially three selections (DVBIA 2015, p. 52).

  5. 5.

    See page 15 in DVBIA (2018) for more measures and indicators.

  6. 6.

    See #moreawesomenow on Instagram and Twitter, as well as HCMA (2016b) for additional images.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, AB, T2N 1N4, Canada

    Debra Mackinnon

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  1. Debra Mackinnon
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Correspondence to Debra Mackinnon .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Bartlett School of Planning, UCL Faculty of the Built Environment, University College London, London, UK

    Lauren Andres

  2. Department of Planning and Environmental Management, School of Environment, Education and Development, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK

    Amy Y. Zhang

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Mackinnon, D. (2020). Activated Alleyways: Mobilising Clean and Safe Dwelling in Business Improvement Areas. In: Andres, L., Zhang, A.Y. (eds) Transforming Cities Through Temporary Urbanism. The Urban Book Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-61753-0_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-61753-0_11

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