Centre Street Urban Design and Social Strategy project

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Centre Street Urban Design and Social Strategy
project

• Annika Spence
• Faculty Mentor John Graham
• Faculty of Social Work

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The Mustard Seed Project

• The research project involves a social/urban
  planning initiative regarding one of Calgary's
  oldest shelters, the Mustard Seed Ministry

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The Mustard Seed Ministry

• Is a center that provides meals, shelter, and
  other services for the homeless as well as
  progressive programming for those who desire to
  get off the street

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The purpose of this project

• Is to critically evaluate relevant precedents in
  which social services, such as the Mustard Seed
  Ministry, are integrated with the urban setting,
  and to propose alternative models for the
  development of the Mustard Seed and Centre Street
  area.

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• We used the internet, key informant snowball
  sampling, and analyses of secondary and primary
  literatures to do a major audit/initial
  assessment of social service agencies that
  compare to the Mustard Seed
• In future work a provision of N of 2 to 6
  precedents that seem favorable, and 2 to 6
  precedents that seem unfavorable will be
  identified and assessed

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Participants

• Total of 46 key informants were interviewed.
• Through June to September 2006
• Participants came from a wide range of
  professional fields
• Professors of geography and social work
• Architects
• Nurses
• Policy makers city planners
• Directors and CEOs

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Participants Cont

• Most participants came from North America
• A few from the U.K.
• There was an over sampling of key informants from
  the Calgary region to highlight local needs and
  issues

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Instrument

• Interviews conducted over the phone
• Used semi structured open-ended questions
• Questions were designed to gather information on
  shelters and social service agencies that could
  act as useful precedents for the MS, as well as
  precedents they may want to avoid.
• Key informants were also asked to give feedback
  on the criteria used to identify precedents, and
  the appropriateness of the questions asked in the
  interview.

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Procedure

• The lead investigators as well as, City of
  Calgary employees collaborators identified a
  number of individuals to contact as potential key
  informants
• snowball sampling was used to identify additional
  informants
• Myself and the lead investigators conducted all
  of the interviews from June to September 2006
• written notes were taken during the interview

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Results

• Key informant comments were summarized and used
  to identify major themes
• Results were organized into three main categories
  
• 1) Service users
• 2) Building features
• 3) Public/community
• Under each category there are a number of
  subcategories and sub-subcategories

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Service users

• Subcategories include
• Type of clientele
• Client dignity and safety
• Shelter services and programming

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Fostering client dignity

• In Calgary I think the Drop-In Centre, Centre of
  Hope, and Alpha House or any of the other
  temporary shelters have no visual humanity around
  them, such as grass and picnic benches. They are
  providing food and shelter, but are they
  respectful of anything other then that basic need
  for shelter? How do they affirm their clients as
  well get others in the community to affirm them?
  It bothers me to walk by people sleeping on the
  sidewalk not because I am scared but rather
  because I wonder how that person experiences
  their own humanity and dignity. I know that good
  and bad things happen at these shelters.
  Shelters do not give the rest of us in the
  community examples of how to be more respectful
  of this population. New York wanted to clean up
  and a lot people responded to that
  beautification. Homeless people responded to
  having a place of beauty and dignity and did not
  wreck it. A question worthy of further pursuit
  is if they can tie some of the beautification
  ideas into employment of some of their clients.
  Clients can develop systems of self-monitoring or
  maintaining the area. By doing this we are
  looking at the clients assets to improve the
  area. This presents the idea of do with, not do
  for or enable.

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Fostering client dignity

• We should provide a compound that is somewhat
  sheltered, but not necessarily hidden away. This
  could increase client dignity because they are
  not standing on the street. It can also create a
  more inviting environment for others wanting to
  use the area. Some may think that this is an
  attempt to hide the problem, but I do not see it
  that way because both sides benefit.

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Lineups and Gathering

• The nature of services and programs causes people
  to line-up and hang round in the area. This is
  an issue that has not been dealt with. The
  Mustard Seed in Calgary has this problem. They
  need to figure out a way to organize services so
  they dont have line-ups in the area creating
  potential issues for business owners and others
  in the community and also for those who use the
  shelter services. The Drop-In Centre in Calgary
  always has people waiting around for services.
  

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Concerns regarding services and programs at the
Mustard Seed

• One way or another I would like to see all of the
  programming happen on-site, not necessarily
  indoors. By on-site I mean land belonging to and
  controlled by the Mustard Seed. This could
  include providing an interior courtyard, and
  garden patio. We need to create a clear
  distinction between public space where all
  members, including clients, have a right to
  safety, and private space that is under the
  control of the Mustard Seed. I believe in the
  need for a demarcation between public and private
  space.

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Lineups and Gathering

• The gathering place is located in Vancouver and
  it gives guests a place to go during the day.
  Line-ups are not an issue with this design.
  There are also a few other placed that guests can
  go during the day in Vancouvers downtown East
  Side. Having these programs during the day
  decreases the negative backlash from the
  community.

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Lineups and Gathering

• Line-ups are a common phenomenon. Guests line up
  for more then just food it is a way of meeting
  other needs such as creating friendships and
  connecting with friends. We need to understand
  what the line-ups provide for the guests, and if
  there is another way to meet that need without
  interfering in the streetscape.

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Building Features

• Sub-categories include
• Shelter appearance
• Shelter size
• Shelter designs and models to avoid
• Favorable shelter designs and models
• Shelter Alternatives

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Congruency

• Shelters need to fit in with the surrounding
  environment. Appearance and land use needs to be
  congruent. You should not be able to identify a
  shelter by looking at it.
• Shelters are a Band-Aid solution that has become
  institutionalized. No matter how congruent they
  are with the environment, they are a sad
  reflection on our collective social conscience.
  

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Shelter Size

• Small-scale shelters accommodating thirty to
  seventy people works best. Shelters
  accommodating over one hundred guests are too
  big. For example Seaton House in Toronto is a
  mega shelter that is too big.

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Shelter Location Accessibility

• Shelters need to be in locations that are
  accessible, not in the suburbs or industrial
  areas

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Shelter models to avoid Warehousing

• The big box shelter concept is costing more
  money. We need to build more transitional
  accommodations, so guests are not hanging around
  on the streets all day, and sleeping on
  mattresses on the flour.

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Favorable shelter designs and models
Transitional Models

• Christie Ossington Centre in Toronto was
  renovated from a salt storage factory. It is a
  step program with sixteen bed hostel and twenty
  single room occupancies. Once the men have dealt
  with their issues they are illegible to rent one
  of the single room occupancies, this steps them
  into independent living.

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Shelter Alternatives

• Shelters in San Francisco and Philadelphia are
  doing well at reducing homelessness. They are
  focusing on the chronically homeless.
  Philadelphia has reduced homelessness by 60.
  They have a housing fist policy, where they try
  to avoid shelters and move people into subsidized
  housing right away. This saves money.

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Public/Community

• Subcategories include
• Perceptions of the homeless
• Public feelings of safety
• Community concerns and involvement
• NIMBY

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Public Feelings of Safety Line-ups

• The biggest problem is line-ups. Having a large
  number of people lining up outside to get meals
  harms the image of the neighborhood and scares
  people, particularly women. The line-ups need to
  be minimized. CUPS in Calgary had a similar
  situation they created a landscape seating area.
  The Mustard Seed should take out the parking
  lane in front and create sitting area. This
  clears the sidewalk for other people and reduces
  fear and creates comfort.

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Public Feelings of Safety Line-ups

• Many people will not go near shelters because
  they feel intimidated by the overflow on the
  sidewalk. This needs to be dealt with in a
  realistic not idealistic way. The large numbers
  of people waiting at shelters, spilling over on
  the side walk is inevitable. This can be dealt
  with through design.

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Public feelings of safety Gathering area

• Improving the streetscape is an important part of
  a successful initiative. It increases the
  publics sense of safety. There also needs to be
  places for guests to congregate that have public
  washrooms.

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Conclusion

• In the process of identifying and assessing the N
  of 2 to 6 precedents that seem favorable and
  unfavorable.
• Thank you!