Based on democratic principles of governance, communication, and participation, the project identifies a set of rules for establishing a sustainable urban neighborhood in the city of Vancouver in Canada. Instead of relying on a pre-established urban pattern, the strategy foregrounds a number of important criteria – such as the density of the urban fabric, the effect of shadow on neighboring buildings, views from each lot, parking needs, and green spaces – that are to be collectively negotiated by stakeholders in order to define the neighborhood’s future development. The approach establishes minimally-invasive interventions, which will develop in time according to the needs of both individuals and group collectives. 

The jury especially commended the focus on questions of procedures, i.e. the design of processes, including stakeholder participation and its effects on physical form. Particularly interesting is the changing relationship between built and un-built areas that is constantly negotiated and re-negotiated in a process that engages a range of relevant parties. The proposal offers a method for a step-by-step urban densification, combining bottom-up and top-down as well as formal and informal practices – to create an urban commons. Of specific interest is the use of parametric design and digital technology as methods in order to anticipate the potential transformation of the neighborhood and its formal architectural expression in the future, testing aspects of Bruno Latour’s Actor Network Theory in practice.