Creative minds with innovative and inspired ideas on the future of Vancouver’s viaducts and Eastern Core are invited to submit their visions to the re:CONNECT ideas competition.
As part of the City of Vancouver’s ongoing review of the Georgia and Dunsmuir Viaducts and strategic planning for the Eastern Core, which stretches from Northeast False Creek to Clark Drive, re:CONNECT aims to explore the future possibilities of these structures and areas of the city.
While no decisions on the future of the viaducts are being made through re:CONNECT, fresh, new ideas from citizens and design professionals will spark dialogue and help inform and inspire planning for this part of Vancouver. 
The competition is divided into two entry streams — free and fee. Both streams will accept submissions in three categories: Big Picture, Viaducts, and Wild Card.
The free stream is directed toward people from any background who may enter without an entry fee. Winning ideas will appear in post-competition literature that will be made available online and to Vancouver City Council. The winners from this stream will also have their ideas profiled at a public forum.
The fee stream, while open to anyone who wishes to enter, is directed more at design professionals such as architects, engineers, and urban planners and their skill sets. This stream requires an entry fee and will include a monetary award for winning entrants, along with the same opportunities as the winners of the free stream.
An independent design jury, made up of renowned international and local urban experts, will choose the winners in both streams. A People’s Choice Award will also be given in each category with the winning entries decided by public online voting.
Deadline for submissions is November 4, 2011. Winners will be announced at a public forum in early December.
To enter or for more information: vancouver.ca/reconnect
Meanwhile, over at Planetizen, City Planning Director Brent Toderian writes about design competitions and “building a city’s “culture of design.”
Pavers? Really? People hate walking on them and they are horrible for wheelchairs. Plus the concrete ones are really ugly. The City actually removed some of them on the Comox Greenway.
Folks from Vancouver really need to check out the newer great pedestrian spaces in Europe. They use machine cut smooth granite set in concrete. Great for heels and wheels plus it looks great.