The post-COVID urban Renaissance blooms: How COVID changed our waterfront & neighbourhood, and calls for a new capital district for Canada (like Washington, DC)
The Kitigan Zibi flotilla passes St Francis de Sales Church along the Pointe-Gatineau waterfront.
COVID pushed our boundaries in many ways, creating stresses on the way our neighbourhoods and cities function and fracturing the old paradigms. Waterfronts and ancient Indigenous waterways became busier and more chaotic, as we immediately recognized the benefits of outdoor living. Urban design restricted how people congregated and interacted, sometimes not for the best. Infrastructure deficiencies became unsafe. Cities adapted quickly, providing lessons learned, but indicated that there's a need for more radical change.
Following the Black Plague in medieval times, came the Renaissance. There is no better example of how COVID has impacted urban design than on our urban waterfronts. This walk takes you to the region's oldest place of human habitation, going back 7300 years and a great place to enjoy one of several waterfront restaurants. This is our region's best kept secret, but becoming more popular as people learn where it is to enjoy boating, restaurants, and walking or cycling along the shore. This is the jewel of the National Capital Region and if you haven't come here yet, you will be amazed how beautiful it is and what potential we have on our riverfront.
This case study helps to illustrate the larger problem that exists in our National Capital Region, that our community is unnaturally divided between two cities, two provinces, and unceded Algonquin territory. Come learn how the waterfront is evolving and the work that is currently underway to improve things. You will hear from urban planning influencer, John Savage, how he's promoting a new community effort to improve river access and make our downtown waterway safer. He will introduce you to his new City Councillor, Mike Duggan, who can explain how he works with citizens to push forward innovative grass roots efforts that help citizens and improve the urban environment. Mr. Duggan will explain how he personally envisions a healthy city and the complexities of making that happen.
Jane Jacobs was a visionary and on Jane's Walk, we will use her inspiration to conceive a new community that embraces the reality that we are one community together. In that spirit of visioning a better community, John will also share a vision for a new National Urban Park for the region and the need to amalgamate Ottawa and Gatineau into a new province on unceded Algonquin territory in our lifetime as a post-COVID reaction to the dysfunction we experienced the past few years.
