‘Blue space’ as public space: a case for a bottom-up integrated design approach to propose a harbour bath concept in Victoria, BC.

Tamara Fleming
Nov 7 · 5 min read

This research paper explored the use of ‘blue space’ as public space in the context of Victoria, BC through the conceptualization of a harbour bath in the downtown harbour. The utilization of the harbour as an urban leisure centre would result in a healthy public sphere with benefit to social, economic, and environmental sustainability through inclusive & playful design, positive effects on the tourism industry, and further remediation of the harbour.

This argument was supported by an in-depth literature review comprised of peer-reviewed articles regarding blue space, playful design, and inclusive design. It was found that in order for a harbour bath project to be successful, a bottom-up integrated design approach must be taken to ensure the success and sustainability of the project.

Victoria Today

  • City with historical downtown, pre-automobile human scale planning
  • Harbour-centric city, large driver of tourism and industrial economy
  • Lack of public space in downtown core to gather and socialize
  • Little access to waterfront in downtown core, no public beaches
  • City currently focusing on Centennial Square and Ship Point redevelopments
  • Ship Point Master Plan outlines many social and environmentally sustainable goals, but does not incorporate use of the harbour into design- lack of permeability
  • Major remediation project at Laurel Point to clean up contaminated soil
  • Dockside Green development committed to LEED certified neighbourhood along industrial harbour
  • Victoria’s harbour is still a working harbour, important to maintain mixed-uses however harbour is in need of further clean-up

WHY A HARBOUR BATH?

Success in Copenhagen

  • Case study of 2002 Copenhagen harbour bath shows 30 year process of interacting sociomaterial systems, which resulted in the vision and adoption of harbour baths
  • Political, environmental, and social actors with common goal of cleaning up polluted harbour
  • Copenhagen harbour bath both a result of activism for improved water quality and a catalyst for the institutionalized practice of harbour swimming
  • Vision adopted by Mayor of Environment, and funding was granted through municipal budget
  • Design of bath by JDS architects and Bjarke Ingels Group, with goal of transforming industrial harbour into city’s social centre, governed by principles of accessibility, safety, inclusivity, sustainability, and respect for the harbourscape
  • Positive results for environment from harbour clean-up, society by providing democratic and fun gathering space, and economy by boosting Copenhagen’s tourism industry as a leader in green design
  • MIKE and MOUSE monitoring tools in place to ensure continued water quality

A Healthier Public Sphere

  • Victoria has a vision of being a leader in sustainability by 2041, while respecting history and marine orientation (OCP, 2012)
  • A diversity of social and physical activities for all ages and abilities
  • Human-scale design promotes spontaneous and playful interactions. Well designed public spaces are more socially sustainable (Gehl, 2010)

Leading by Example

  • The Gorge Waterway in Victoria’s upper harbour is already a locally known swimming hole
  • The Gorge Waterway Initiative is a grassroots community group that has been cleaning up the area for years, making it safe to swim
  • Gorge Swimfest is an annual event held to reduce stigma and spread awareness about swimming in the harbour
  • From the 1890s-1930s, The Gorge was the most popular swimming spot in Victoria, but was banned due to pollution in 1939
  • The Gorge Waterway is an example of environmental stewardship, and shows it is possible to improve harbour water quality

NEXT STEPS

A harbour bath project could help the City of Victoria achieve its vision of being a leader in climate action and urban sustainability, while creating a democratic public space for leisure that permeates the edge between the waterfront and harbour. A bottom-up integrated design approach to planning a harbour bath would compliment current projects like the Ship Point redevelopment, Laurel Point remediation, and expansion of Dockside Green that have catalyzed actions outlined in Victoria’s Official Community Plan. The next steps in this project would be to identify possible sites in the harbour and expand a more detailed methodology

REFERENCES

City of Victoria. (2012). Official Community Plan. Retrieved from: https://www.victoria.ca/assets/Departments/ Planning~Development/Community~Planning/OCP/Replaced/OCP_Book_2012_amended_Sept_2016.pdf
Derr, V., & Tarantini, E. (2016). “because we are all people”: Outcomes and reflections from young people’s participation in the planning and design of child-friendly public spaces.Local Environment, 21(12), 1534. doi:10.1080/13549839.2016.1145643
Dias, N., Keraminiyage, K., Amaratunga, D., & Curwell, S. (2018). Critical success factors of a bottom up urban design process to deliver sustainable urban designs. International Journal of Strategic Property Management, 22(4) doi:10.3846/ijspm.2018.3683 Gehl, J. (2010). Cities for People, 1.1, 1.3, 3.1, 3.3. (Island Press, Washington, DC)
Hjort, M., Martin, W. M., Stewart, T., & Troelsen, J. (2018). Design of urban public spaces: Intent vs. reality. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 15(4), 816. doi:10.3390/ijerph15040816
JDS Architects. (n.d). BAD/ Copenhagen Harbour Bath. Retrieved from: http://jdsa.eu/bad/#
Jensen, J. S., Lauridsen, E. H., Fratini, C. F., & Hoffmann, B. (2015). Harbour bathing and the urban transition of water in copenhagen: Junctions, mediators, and urban navigations.Environment and Planning A, 47(3), 554–570. doi:10.1068/a130132 Völker, S., & Kistemann, T. (2015). Developing the urban blue: Comparative health responses to blue and green urban open spaces in germany. Health and Place, 35, 196–205. doi:10.1016/j.healthplace.2014.10.015
Wessells, A. T. (2014). Urban blue space and “the project of the century”: Doing justice on the seattle waterfront and for local residents. Buildings, 4(4), 764. doi:10.3390/buildings4040764
Urban open spaces (UOS) with large water bodies have the most health-related appropriations according to Volker & Kistemann, 2015
Photos:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/26941526@N00/albums/72157670726753872/page2/
https://www.gvha.ca/events/markets
http://jdsa.eu/bad/#

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