The aim of this research is to identify how industrial heritage in redeveloping industrial areas may be used to contribute to a neighbourhood sense of place. This is examined through case studies, semi-structured interviews and first hand observations. Focus is placed on planning processes and results yielded. This project began with the belief that highlighting a community's heritage, when done effectively, and at a comprehensive scale, will foster a distinct neighbourhood character and sense of place. Based on the literature and research collected, an analysis of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats associated with incorporating the industrial heritage of South Point Douglas in Winnipeg, Manitoba is provided. Future steps are also recommended. This community was chosen , in part, because of its large supple of underused industrial buildings, its central location, and its historical significance to the development of the City of Winnipeg.

Through a case study analysis of the Central Park placemaking initiative in Winnipeg, this Major Degree Project explores the process of collaborative planning with new immigrant communities. While existing research examines the potential of placemaking to promote physical improvements through collaborative planning, we know less about whether placemaking initiatives achieve the long-term social outcomes associated with collaborative planning theory. Located in downtown Winnipeg, Central Park is surrounded by a diverse multi-cultural community, consisting of many new immigrants. In 2008, the CentreVenture Development Corporation launched a placemaking initiative to revitalize Central Park. The community was a key collaborator in the planning and design process. This thesis examines the long-term social outcomes of this initiative. The main research methods for this project include key informant interviews, and archival and secondary source analysis of existing data. The research finds that collaborative planning processes offer the potential to promote sustainable inner city neighbourhood revitalization. Placemaking through collaborative planning can develop new institutional capacity for participants. By developing and harnessing relational, intellectual and political resources communities can mobilize co-ordinated action toward future initiatives. The findings of this research advance the literature and understanding of collaborative planning processes, particularly within the context of placemaking with new immigrant communities. This thesis adds to the literature of inner city neighbourhood revitalization and collaborative planning theory. / October 2015

Eighty percent of the Canadian population lives in urban centres, where typical land use patterns negatively impact urban ecosystems and decrease quality of life. Current municipal Community Improvement Plans target urban vacancies for intensification efforts, which can increase fragmentation and degradation of the urban ecosystem. This project examines the urban environment: its vacancies, ecological patterns and human impacts. A strategy was derived from ecological principles aiming to design more sustainable urban landscape patterns. Applied to the Two Rivers neighbourhood in Guelph, Ontario, the strategy identified 19.5 hectares of land capable of contributing to more sustainable ecological patterns of which 12.41 hectares were brownfields. Results revealed 4.3% more high-quality land cover, in 53% more patches, 45 m closer together, but with increasing edge contrast. An area-wide strategic integration of vacant lands may provide previously unconsidered opportunities to improve urban ecological patterns and create a more sustainable urban environment.

The North End is one of the most colourful areas in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Plagued by urban decay, the North End is a melting pot of cultures and catch basin for many marginalized people. In the face of adversity, people unite under similar ideals and principles to work towards common goals. This unity is exemplified in co-operatives, which has been in the North End for decades. Co-ops exhibited outstanding camaraderie with the goal of alleviating adverse social conditions. Today, the co-op sector, exemplified by Pollock’s Hardware and Urban Eatin’ Landscapes, continue to operate in the area like conventional business, while practicing social and environmental responsibility under a common set of principles. Due to their ideologies and principles, their impact on neighbourhood and community revitalization is more profound than expected. Through case studies, this research found that co-ops offer urban planners and government officials a complimentary method to conventional urban revitalization methods. Co-operative Urban Revitalization starts by uniting marginalized people and empowering them to devise solutions to social and economic problems. / February 2017