Designing With Culture: Innovative Community Planning in Canada and the World

Hook: whose city is it?

For much of the 20th century, many Canadian suburbs were designed in nearly the same way, wherever they were: wide streets, detached houses, a mall. But Canada is home to First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples, Francophone and Anglophone communities, and people from almost every country on Earth. Families live in different ways. Communities have different histories with the land.

What happens when communities are designed with the people who live there, reflecting their cultures, and not just for them?

Why culture matters for sustainability

Culturally informed design can make communities more sustainable because:

• Social: people feel they belong, use public spaces more, and look after them. Housing fits how families actually live.
• Environmental: many cultures carry deep knowledge about local land, water and climate. Indigenous knowledge in particular offers long experience of living in relationship with a place.
• Economic: buildings and spaces that fit their users are used well for longer, and community-led development can keep benefits local.

The key method is co-design: community members, Elders, youth and professionals planning together from the start.

Examples in Canada

• Sen̓áḵw, Vancouver: the Squamish Nation is developing thousands of rental homes (about 6 000 planned) on its own reserve land near downtown Vancouver, in partnership with a private developer. Because the land is reserve land, the Nation, not the city, leads the planning. The design draws on Squamish art and culture, and the project was planned with far fewer parking spaces than usual, encouraging walking, cycling and transit. It is an example of a First Nation using its land for economic development and housing on its own terms.
• Comprehensive community planning by First Nations: many First Nations create plans that start from community values, culture, language and relationships to land, covering housing, governance, health, economy and environment together.
• Indigenous cultural spaces in cities: in Edmonton, kihcihkaw askî – Sacred Land (Cree for "sacred land"; planned under the name kihciy askiy) opened in 2022 in Whitemud Park in the river valley. It is an urban Indigenous ceremonial site where people can gather and hold ceremonies, with space for sweat lodges and tipis.
• Housing designed for northern life: Inuit organizations have called for housing designed for Arctic conditions and Inuit family life, for example with room for larger households and space to prepare country food and store hunting and fishing gear.
• Cultural landscapes in public space: Vancouver's Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden, opened in 1986, was built with techniques and materials from China and reflects the history of Vancouver's Chinese Canadian community.
• Multigenerational and garden-suite housing: many Ontario municipalities now permit garden suites and secondary units, which help families who want to live with grandparents or adult children.

Examples around the world

• Netherlands, woonerf: shared "living streets" where people come first.
• Barcelona, superblocks: groups of blocks where through traffic is kept to the edges and inner streets become plazas and green space.
• Paris, the 15-minute city: an idea promoted by researcher Carlos Moreno and adopted by Paris to bring daily needs closer to home.
• Auckland, New Zealand, Te Aranga Māori design principles: principles developed by Māori design professionals and used in Auckland's design guidance, including using Māori names and language, showing Māori creative expression and caring for the natural environment.