For the past two years, Robson Street in downtown Vancouver has been closed to traffic. First for the Olympics and then for renovations to the surrounding public space. It is set to reopen to traffic on September 5th. Fellow Spacing Vancouver contributor, Brian Gould captured this video of what it was like this summer, including scenes from Picnurbia, a public space installation hosted by Viva Vancouver.
Robson Street is set to reopen to traffic on September 5th. The Vancouver Public Space Network currently has two petitions on the issue.
- One is to support the expansion of Robson Square and the permanent closure of the 800-block to vehicular traffic.
- The other one is to maintain the earlier size of Robson Square and return cars and busses to the block.
Last I checked the petition to keep the block closure to traffic had over 900 signatures, while the petition to reopen it to vehicles was hovering around 30.
You can find out more about Brian’s observations on the issue on Spacing Vancouver.
NOTE: I am a contributor to Spacing Vancouver and a member of the Vancouver Public Space Network. Neither organization asked me to make this post— I posted this on my on volition.
Related articles
- Politics, not petition, will determine Robson Squares future (theglobeandmail.com)
- Blim Community Market turns Robson Square into vibrant public space (vancouverpublicspace.wordpress.com)
- Reflections on Vancouver’s Public Spaces (yuriartibise.com)
