Meanwhile Toolkit

Sam says Vancouver already had programs to fast-track temporary interventions like dog parks and community gardens for redevelopment sites, but he and Ronak wanted to do more. “The idea was to engage people and create something more intentional, more focused on their neighborhood’s unique needs. What’s appropriate for a community close to the ocean, for instance, might be very different from one in the inner city.” He says that a space might benefit from something as simple as an additional bench, or as ambitious as a full skate park, or both. “If there’s something special that people really want, we wanted a way to help make it happen. And the hope is that an interim solution might eventually be integrated into the development. It’s a subtle way to start including community benefits in the design beforehand.” 

Communities as Co-Designers 

Unlike traditional public engagement processes that invite residents to comment on future permanent plans, the Meanwhile Toolkit allows participants to actively invent possibilities. Community members become co-designers, and each card supports their deliberations by incorporating practical considerations like scale, cost, and the time and skill required for assembly or installation. 

To create the kit, Sam and Ronak researched other temporary interventions around the world. “We saw people hosting music raves on vacant lots. We saw farmers’ markets. We saw modular housing,” Sam says. “Learning about all these ideas from a vast array of cultures and geographies was inspiring.”

The approach is a win-win for the community and clients alike. It provides benefits tailored to local needs, and it helps developers build trust with the surrounding neighborhood. “A thoughtful ‘Meanwhile’ project demonstrates the developer’s commitment to meaningful placemaking. People begin to view our clients as community-building partners, and this supports a smoother development process.” 

‘Sims in real life’

Sam’s ultimate goal is to empower residents to actively engage in city-building rather than waiting years to discover what will be built in their backyard. The next step is to transform the physical kit into a digital tool. “The easiest way to describe it is Sims in real life,” Sam says, referring to SimCity, the virtual city-building game series. “You can just drag and drop whatever you want, and you start to build your own city. This is the same thing, except that it could actually get built in real life.”