The City of Lethbridge teamed up with the University of Calgary on a recent project focused on the city's urban core. (File photo: LNN)

By Justin Goulet

City of Lethbridge teams with University of Calgary for urban revitalization project

Jun 23, 2023 | 1:01 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – The City of Lethbridge teamed up with the University of Calgary (U of C) on a project focused on redesigning the downtown core.

The collaboration with the U of C School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape (SAPL) offered an opportunity for graduate-level SAPL students to gain hands-on experience by working on real-life projects. Participants assisted the Opportunity Lethbridge department as it continues to support the revitalization of Lethbridge’s downtown and warehouse districts.

Logan Bartholow, Project Planning Lead with Opportunity Lethbridge said, “Partnering with institutions like the University of Calgary’s School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape is one way that we can explore interesting concepts around urban design and placemaking.”

Bartholow added, “These sorts of partnerships are more important than ever as our cities face crucial challenges that require innovative approaches, and the City will look to continue leveraging these partnerships in the future.”

The primary goal of the project was to present different ideas to enhance the design of public spaces in the urban core of Lethbridge. In a news release, the City of Lethbridge explained that “the students aimed to attract people and facilitate their movement through significant areas,” with the focus being on utilizing and improving the spaces between these areas, including prominent buildings like CASA, and the Lethbridge Public Library Main Branch.

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Participating student Megan Taylor stated, “Working with the City of Lethbridge on an urban scale project to revitalize their downtown core was an extremely rewarding experience.”

Taylor said, “It allowed us to explore our skills at a new scale while using data and research to analyze the planned impacts of our design alongside real-world challenges. This opportunity will impact our thinking as we progress in our education and careers.”

Students from different backgrounds formed small groups to offer up a range of perspectives.

Professor Alberto de Salvatierra, Director, Center for Civilization, and Associate Professor of Urbanism and Data in Architecture, at SAPL said, “Cities demand transdisciplinary and cross-sectoral solutions.”

“This is why instructional models that catalyze productive collisions between faculty-led research labs, student-engaged studio environments, and partner-supported contexts, like a Municipality, are both timely and sharp tools that can facilitate tackling complex urban questions,” added de Salvatierra.

The participating students presented their finished projects to City of Lethbridge administration on Monday, June 19, 2023.

The City of Lethbridge noted it hopes to explore fresh ideas through the engagement with SAPL students and leverage the students’ creativity to help with the ongoing revitalization of the urban core.

The project was completed through a graduate-level SAPL course taught by professors de Salvatierra and Dan Hampton, alongside Teaching Assistant Teegan Heinricks. It was supported by the Civic Commons Catalyst initiative, which is a research and innovation platform for city revitalization seed-funded by the Alberta Real Estate Foundation and led by the Center for Civilization, a design research lab and think tank at the University of Calgary SAPL.

READ MORE: Lethbridge News Now.

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