22nd St reGENERATE Ideas Challenge

March 4, 2024: reGENERATE winners have been announced! Thank you to everyone who showed interest and participated, and congratulations to the winners! Visit beheardnewwest.ca/22ndst for next steps on the creation of a vision for a climate-friendly neighbourhood around the 22nd Street SkyTrain Station.

As a way to surface new ideas on planning for a climate-friendly community for all and inform the vision, the City hosted the reGENERATE Ideas Challenge, from November 2023 to January 2024. The reGENERATE Ideas Challenge, which closed at the end of January 2024, was part of the City’s visioning process for the area around the 22nd Street Station

Watch the video explaining the challenge here!

WINNING SUBMISSIONS

Top comprehensive Idea (tied):

Top Local Community Idea:

Top Youth Idea:

Honorable mentions (by jury selection):

Community's Choice Award:

SUBMISSION AND SELECTION PROCESS

We received 82 submissions from diverse countries, including many submissions from youth and local community members. Submissions explored opportunities to:

  • Create and expand spaces for public gathering, including green space with ecological and climate adaptation functions, as well as indoor gathering spaces where neighbours could connect, support each other’s wellbeing, and advance climate action
  • Promote local renewable energy generation, such as through wind, solar, or even capturing kinetic energy along pathways
  • Redevelop the station and its immediate surroundings into a mixed-use hub that could serve daily needs of residents
  • Support a range of housing typologies, from high rise, to mixed-use low rise, courtyard orientations, townhouses, and multiplexes
  • Support sustainable transportation modes by expanding bike and pedestrian infrastructure, or closing select roads to cars

Submissions were shortlisted to 20 ideas, and reviewed by a diverse jury including a New Westminster high school student, a local representative from the Advisory Planning Commission, a climate planner from Metro Vancouver, an architect from Human Studio, a planner from Happy Cities, and a Coast Salish cultural advisor. The jury selected the winners for the Top Comprehensive Idea, Top Local Community Idea, Top Youth Idea, as well as the honourable mentions.

Community members voted on the shortlist of submissions to determine the Community's Choice Award. These winning entries embody the creativity, passion, and enthusiasm of proud community members and environmentally-conscious professionals towards shaping an inclusive and climate-friendly future.

A summary of the winning submissions, the jury’s statements, as well as the full shortlist can be found here.

ongoing visioning

The City will continue to learn from the ideas proposed in the full range of submissions, and will explore integrating key features from many of them into a draft vision for the neighbourhood. Several submissions also responded to truth and reconciliation value (a foundational value underpinning the vision process). These ideas, if integrated, would be brought to First Nations for their consideration and direction first.

Visit beheardnewwest.ca/22ndSt for more details on the ongoing visioning process.

 

  • Between November 2023 to January 2024, everyone was invited to submit ideas for a climate-friendly neighbourhood around the 22nd Street SkyTrain Station. The City was interested in ideas that fell under the following themes: 

    • Land Use and Housing: focused growth near transit, diverse & affordable housing 

    • Mobility, Access and Infrastructure: sustainable transportation options, infrastructure 

    • Landscape and Water: nature-based design, connected open spaces, sustainable food systems 

    • Buildings, Energy and Waste: zero emission buildings, energy efficiency and conservation, embodied energy and carbon, local renewable energy, construction waste reduction, circular economy opportunities 

    • Community Connections and Belonging: community well-being, sense of place and safety, celebrating culture 

    And answered questions such as:  

    • How can we plan for neighbourhood growth with climate change at the forefront of our thinking?  
    • What are the most urgent adaptation measures we need to design into our communities?  
    • How do we best reduce our emissions through neighbourhood or building design? 
    • How can we plan neighbourhoods that are inclusive and safe for everyone, now and into the future? 

     

    Entry was open to everyone – community members, students, youth, designers, urban development professionals, climate thought leaders, and everyone in between. Entrants could participate individually or in groups. Interdisciplinary teams were encouraged. 

     

  • Up to $5K in award money was offered for the top ideas. Award levels were as follows:

    • Top Comprehensive Idea ($5,000): The winning idea from all submissions received will provide a comprehensive concept for the area, considering multiple challenge themes (i.e. landscape, land use, mobility, etc). These ideas must be at the Station Area or Neighbourhood scale.

    • Top Local Community Idea ($2,000): The top idea from a New Westminster resident or team of residents. This idea may not address all of the challenge themes but it ranks well against the evaluation criteria.   

    • Community’s Choice Award ($1,500): The public will be invited to vote online on a shortlist of the submissions, to provide an opportunity to celebrate the idea that resonates most with the New Westminster community. 

    • Top Youth Idea ($500): The top idea from any individual or team aged up to 30 years old. This idea may not address all of the challenge themes but it ranks well against the evaluation criteria.  

    • Honourable Mentions ($200): Additional compelling ideas that we want to celebrate and acknowledge.