REIMAGINE NANAIMO

The Phase 3 Public Engagement Summary is now available! Thank you to everyone who took part and provided feedback. Over 1,250 participants shared their thoughts the draft City Plan - Nanaimo ReImagined. The feedback gathered in Phase 3 will be considered during refinements to the draft City Plan.

The Phase 3 Engagement Summary is being presented to the Governance and Priority Committee on May 9th, 2022 at 1pm. A copy of the Staff Report can be viewed here. Staff will also be presenting three additional reports related to Reimagine Nanaimo on May 9th, 2022. They include:

Staff Report | Draft City Plan Amendments

Staff Report | Land Use Designation Review Summary

Staff Report | City Plan Development Permit Areas

Thank you again to everyone who has taken part in REIMAGINE NANAIMO! Your insights are helping guide our community into its future.

Click on the GPC meeting date to see Council's proposed changes to the draft City Plan. The recommended changes will be considered at the May 9th, GPC, alongside the Phase 3 Public Engagement Summary.

GPC, March 14, 2022 | A Green & Connected Nanaimo

GPC, March 28, 2022 | A Healthy, An Empowered and A Prosperous Nanaimo

GPC, April 11, 2022 | Land Use & Neighborhoods

Nearly two years after the launch of REIMAGINE NANAIMO, we are now in the third and final phase! With it comes a new draft plan for our community: City Plan - Nanaimo ReImagined.

Watch: Our Future Starts Here - REIMAGINE NANAIMO Phase 3 Video

This 4-minute video is a great way to quickly learn about highlights in the draft City Plan - Nanaimo ReImagined document.

Review: Draft City Plan - Nanaimo ReImagined documents

A draft City Plan document is available for download and review. Planning for the future of an entire city is a BIG undertaking. That means the draft City Plan is a BIG document (almost 300 pages!) You can download it in its entirety using the links below. Remember, this is a DRAFT. It is intended to be reviewed, refined, and changed through this process.

• Draft City Plan - Nanaimo ReImagined (full resolution)
• Draft City Plan - Nanaimo ReImagined (low resolution for faster download)
• Draft City Plan - Schedule Maps

Explore: Key Directions in the draft City Plan

Because there's so much information in the draft City Plan, the REIMAGINE NANAIMO Story Map and Information Sheets summarize key directions. Similar information is presented in two different ways:

• Nanaimo Story Map - an interactive map and journey for people who love zooming around a webpage
• Information Sheets - for people who prefer to read a poster (slower download)
  • High Resolution (slower download, higher image quality)
  • Low Resolution (faster download, lower image quality)

Share: Public Engagement is now closed. Thank you to everyone who provided their feedback! The public engagement summary will be presented to the Governance and Priorities Committee meeting on May 9th, 2022 at 1:00 pm. Stay tuned by visiting https://www.nanaimo.ca/your-government/city-council/council-meetings/meeting-documents-and-videos for the upcoming agenda and video link.

Phase 2 Public Engagement Summary and Appendices are now available. Thank you to everyone who took part and provided their feedback. We heard from over 2,300 participants on Nanaimo's Foundations (Goals, Targets & Indicators) and 3 Draft Scenarios. The feedback gathered in Phase 2 will be used in the preparation of a draft City Plan.

Update: The Phase 2 Engagement Summary is being presented to the Governance and Priority Committee on November 22, 2021. A copy of the Staff Report can be viewed here.

Thank you again to everyone who took part. We look forward to engaging with you in the Phase 3 - the final phase of REIMAGINE Nanaimo.

• 2021 REIMAGINE Nanaimo | Phase 2 Public Engagement Summary
• 2021 REIMAGINE Nanaimo | Phase 2 Engagement Summary | Report Appendices
• 2021 REIMAGINE Nanaimo | Phase 2 Public Engagement Summary | Staff Report

In order to plan for how and where growth will happen over the next 25 years, it is important to set a strong foundation. Reimagine Nanaimo’s Foundations is based on a Draft Framework, Draft Strategic Goals and Draft Indicators and Targets. Watch the Foundations video to learn more.

The choices we make – where we live and work, how we move, where we shop – all influence how Nanaimo will grow over time. Great cities aren’t created by accident. They are created through thoughtful plans and a desire by the many who live there to make great choices.

While much of our city will remain as the neighbourhoods and features we know and love, some areas will change in the next 25 years. By choosing where to focus new growth and planning what it could look like, we can help create a great city.

Three draft scenarios were provided for consideration. Below is a summary of each:

Scenario 1 | The current path follows the existing Official Community Plan, meaning we’ll continue planning the way we are today. While Current Path was progressive when created in 2008, new knowledge provides opportunity to make enhancements that could move us faster towards our goals. To learn more, watch Scenario 1 video.

Scenario 2 | Mobility Hubs focuses new growth around seven hubs distributed across the City, where transportation networks (roads, transit, cycling) come together. It encourages more housing forms like townhomes and fourplexes to fill the gap between single-family homes and apartments. In this scenario, more growth would occur in and between hubs. To learn more, watch Scenario 2 video.

Scenario 3 | Central Focus encourages most new growth and higher-density housing within a focused urban core bounded by Downtown, the Hospital, and Vancouver Island University. It would lead to a more urban, walkable, and vibrant central core with less growth and change (though still some) in areas beyond this core. To learn more, watch Scenario 3 video.

An detailed overview of all 3 Draft Land Use Scenarios can be found here.

Thank you to everyone who took part in submitting a picture of what they see in our City's future! We got a range of creative submissions that are on display in the windows of public spaces around our city including: Beban Park, Vancouver Island Conference Centre, and the Service and Resource Centre. Go and check them out! Photos of the completed projects will also be shared on the City of Nanaimo's social media.

Any remaining art kits can continue to be dropped off at the Beban Social Centre, Nanaimo Aquatic Centre, Oliver Woods Community Centre, or the Service and Resource Centre (411 Dunsmuir St).

Looking to learn more about REIMAGINE NANAIMO? Get started by watching this short intro video featuring Gracie Hill, then choose your own adventure for learning all about this exciting process and why it's so important for you to participate in Nanaimo's journey to the future!

Wow, Nanaimo! You’ve shared some great insights for the first phase of REIMAGINE NANAIMO – what’s great about our City, what needs work and fantastic ideas for the future. Take a browse through the Phase 1 Engagement Summary and the appendices and see what our community has shared so far. These ideas are now being used in Phase 2 of the process to identify a range of potential scenarios and options for Nanaimo’s future. Later this spring, we’ll be asking for your review and thoughts on these emerging directions. Stay tuned!

PREFER TO LISTEN AND LEARN?

• Have just a few minutes? Doughnut Economics Made Simple - seven videos to help you by Kate Raworth.
• Have 12 minutes? Downscaling the Doughnut to the City by Kate Raworth
• Have 17 minutes? Enjoy this Doughnut TED Talk
• Have 70 minutes? Watch Doughnut Economics Lecture

HAVE TIME TO READ? Check out the following resources?

• Kate Raworth website
• Creating City Portraits - A Methodological Guide from the Thriving Cities Initiative
• World Economic Forum

WHAT DO OTHERS THINK?

• Doughnut Economics by Kate Raworth Review - Forget Growth, Think Survival (Economics, The Guardian)
• There's a Hole in the Middle of Doughnut Economics - Foundation for Economic Education (Fee.org)
• Book Review: Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st Century Economist by Kate Raforth (LSE Review of Books)
• Doughnut Economics Summary (Four Minute Books)

Watch the March 8, 2021 Meeting from the City of Nanaimo Governance and Priorities Committee for an update on the Doughnut Economics Framework.

• See the March 8, 2021 Information Report for the "Update on Doughnut Economics Framework" from the ReImagine Nanaimo Team.