The urban magnets braintrust created the Institute for Urban Vitality as a non profit base to promote perspectives and ideas to enhance vitality in urban spaces, planning and design – with an emphasis on the theory and approaches that underpin Urban Magnets.
The purposes of the Institute are to:
a) Promote awareness of strategies for creating urban vitality through shaping special places in cities, communities, neighbourhoods and developments around the lifestyle needs of activity subculture groups to support them “living out loud” and pursuing their activities in highly visible ways;
b) Foster, among individuals, community organizations, public agencies and businesses, new ways of thinking, learning and working together to create special places in cities that support the lifestyle activities of residents;
c) Participate in creating vibrant, activity-supportive places and communities through education and training, knowledge transfer, capacity building and other appropriate measures;
d) Act as a catalyst in bringing players to the table for explorations, learning, planning, designing, developing and managing these special activity-focused places;
e) Be a champion for supporting and advancing activity groups in urban planning and design processes.
f) Celebrate and promote activity-oriented groups in planning and design processes and projects;
g) Promote understanding, research, education, and enhancement of the importance of creating places in our communities and cities that support the unique activity needs and patterns, and aesthetic identity characteristics of activity groups and subcultures;
h) Foster robust research and debate on how best to build our communities and cities around the “people” who live in them.
The Institute is based in Vancouver, BC, Canada and its directors include:
- Mark Holland – mark@hollandplan.com
- Bruce Haden – Bruce@humanstudio.ca
- Bruce Irvine – Urbanirvine@gmail.com