A plea for people-friendly public space

It is a little sad for me to discover that Toronto's urban public parks are much more alive and accessible than Vancouver's. I say that this is sad because Vancouver is my home and I do not want to speak ill of it. On the contrary, this is more of a plea for improvement rather than a trashing of my home city.

I am not saying that Toronto's urban public spaces are problem-free. Nothing nowadays can escape from the inconsideration of some people. There are things that I appreciate here in Toronto, however, that I found to be absent in Vancouver's main downtown park (Vancouver Art Gallery area and Robson Square). Nathan Phillips Square, right smack in the heart of downtown, is a happening place. Its location is a blessing, for it facilitates the mingling of many different types of people. Three-piece suits, tourists, youth, artists, buskers, the down-and-out panhandlers and many others come to this space, enjoying the pond and basking in the sun.

There is a certain magnificence to spaces that allow for fleeting encounters with people who are markedly different from one's self. As a grad student, I have gone to Nathan Phillips to study. I have also gone to a massive art show/sale in that open space; sculptors, painters, photographers, jewelry makers and other artists showcased their work to many. Today and tomorrow, a Thai cultural festival is happening there; Thai cuisine, traditional dance and other cultural events will be there for the public to engage in.

Just tonight, I went there with a couple of friends, just chilled until about midnight, singing my typical love song or rock ballad. Unlike in Vancouver, my friend Jean and I were actually able to lie down on benches because those pesky 'armrests' (read anti-bum design) do not exist here. A guy even showed us a card trick right around midnight. The openness of space did not make us feel like there were people lurking all around us, for sightlines were clear and unobstructed.

The fundamental problem with Robson Square (especially south of Robson) is that bushes cut it off from the street level, making it somewhat invisible and uninviting. Do not get me wrong, I enjoy greenery so long as the green space is accessible to people. Robson Square is designed too strongly as a defensible space; to me, it has become too defensive a space. The very people for whom it should have been designed is not going there because it feels so cut-off, even semi-private. Open space does not have to be bare in much the same way that green space does not have to feel unusable.

I want a space that invites me in rather than traps me. Smart urban design should facilitate people-friendly public space rather than acting as a deterrent against the unsightly. After all, city life should not be sterile, it has be an adventure. And adventure without risk, according to Douglas Coupland, is Disneyland.