ABOUT THE PROJECT
The Chown Place Special Planning Area is project in development by graduate students from the University of Oklahoma Urban Design Studio. The Studio uses a reciprocal service-learning approach giving students practical experience exploring urban design challenges, while providing technical assistance, capacity building, and policy support for community partners.
We greatly appreciate the support of the primary community partners for this project:
The Gorge View Society
Burnside Gorge Community Association
Chown Place is a Special Planning Area in the Burnside Gorge Neighborhood of Victoria, British Columbia that provides us a unique opportunity for exploring affordable housing redevelopment in an urban context. We are pursuing big moves identified in the Neighborhood Plan:
Encourage Housing Diversity
Create Better Cycling and Pedestrian Connections
Green the Neighborhood
Connect to the Waterfront
Alleviate Neighborhood Stress
APPROACH
The scope of the project will be to create a special plan and urban design vision for Chown Place and develop other recommendations for the Burnside Gorge Neighborhood Association, as appropriate.
The Urban Design Studio uses a reciprocal engagement model and the community partners understand that this is an academic service-learning project for the benefit of the Urban Design students
The students are in the process of learning urban design knowledge, skills, and values.
They may not be as efficient or savvy as professional consultants.
Nonetheless, we hope to provide the community partners with useful technical assistance, capacity building, and decision making support. The Gorge View Society, the Burnside Gorge Community Association, and the City of Victoria are under no obligation to endorse, adopt, or implement the students’ work products, but are welcome to do so, if they so desire. The Studio will grant the community partners license to use the work with proper attribution.
The University of Oklahoma assumes no liability for the use of the work products, which are for community planning and preliminary design purposes and no substitute for the work of licensed, professional engineers and architects.
