Until recently, much of the work that has sought to evaluate sustainable buildings and neighbourhoods has been predominantly preoccupied with quantitative measures of performance in the achievement of ecological and emissions goals. However, these have largely neglected the more qualitatively felt, experiential dimension of being in these environments, including the effects such projects have on the daily lives of their intended inhabitants.

My research uses an interdisciplinary framework that combines insights and concepts of narrative, social practice and place to explore the way sustainable communities are being conceptualised, built, and ultimately experienced. Drawing on Vancouver’s own Olympic Village, I explore the many narrative voices that have emerged from the construction of this unique neighbourhood to get a fuller picture of the many ways that sustainability is both defined and materialised.

Meta-narratives embedded in policy and planning express particular assumptions, prescriptions and characterisations of sustainability and sustainable communities. These are materialised in the “real world” as land use changes, infrastructures, actions, and technologies.

These meta-narratives intersect both materially and meaningfully with the lived narratives of individuals. As we move through these neighbourhoods, we are both producing and reproducing the broader narratives that shaped them through the performance of our daily practices.

Philip Owen (NPA), 1993-2002 Larry Campbell (COPE), 2002-2005 Gregor Robertson (Vision), 2008-2014

SEFC Policy Statement released

Vancouver wins the

2010 Olympic bid

Affordable housing targets

increased

NPA elected on platform

of fiscal responsibility

City’s $100 million loan

revealed

Vancouver taxpayers

“on the hook” for $1 billion

Village’s affordable housing finalised

Olympic Village

placed into receivership

Second round of condo sales

SEFC Policy Statement released

Sam Sullivan (NPA), 2005-2008

The translation of Vancouver’s sustainability policy

and planning narratives into the built form of the

Olympic Village neighbourhood resulted in the

selection of several unique features.

For example, medium-rise building parcels

use passive design measures to reduce energy

and water usage while encouraging resident

interactions (top left). Integrated energy systems

using a combination of changes to building

structure (bottom left), and renewable district

energy (bottom right) were intended to both lower

emissions and improve residents’ experience.

Media coverage adds an important narrative layer to the neighbourhood by imbuing it with certain values and meanings, rendering the Village a certain kind of place in the eyes of the city and its inhabitants. Much more than a simple urban development project, the Village has been used across the city to articulate entrenched narratives around government responsibility, accountability, and housing affordability.

Fifteen years of reporting on the Village also reveal the way sustainability and sustainable communities have been defined and described. Though many championed its merits, strong critiques of the expense of “green” features and the inherent tradefoffs between social, economic and environmental pillars have often prevailed.

CONTESTED NARRATIVES OF A SUSTAINABLE URBAN NEIGHBOURHOODVANCOUVER’S OLYMPIC VILLAGE

The past 30 years of environmental policy making and city planning in Vancouver have seen a progressive shift in the way our urban environments have been envisioned. Separate and evolving visions of liveability and low-carbon societies were merged in large part due to the process of planning and building Southeast False Creek (SEFC) and the Olympic Village. The resulting conceptualisation of urban sustainability continues to influence municipal policy, including the Greenest City Action Plan under implementation today.

Building managers, including building technicians, housing managers, maintenance coordinators and strata council members, are key actors in the Village’s unfolding. The experiences of those who manage and operate the neighbourhood’s buildings are of crucial importance and reveal important insights into the neighbourhood’s performance. I explored the lived narratives of 16 Olympic Village managers with various roles to understand their roles, responsibilities, and daily practices.

• New and complex building systems are challenging for many managers to understand and maintain, especially in the areas of grey water and unit heating. Many managers are unfamiliar with building technologies, especially the strata councils that operate on a volunteer basis.

• Managers haved relied heavily on information and support from system engineers in navigating this learning curve. The emergence of information sharing networks within and between building parcels is proving crucial in the absence of broader coordination.

• Though all managers shared concerns over maintenance and material costs, most remained enthusiastic about the neighbourhood’s environmental and social potential. In some cases, negative media portrayals have buoyed managers’ efforts to ensure the community lives up to the official narrative.

The residents of the Olympic Village themselves are of course one of the major beneficiaries intended with the Village’s construction. I conducted in-depth interviews to hear the lived narratives of 20 residents living in the Village, including the ways they have come to understand and experience the neighbourhood.

• Though all residents were aware of the neighbourhood’s official narrative, few based their decision to come to live in the Village on its sustainable features. However, prior experiences and expectations have played important roles in resident satisfaction, including frustrations when challenges are encountered.

• The selection of certain building technologies has prompted a shift in the performance of certain resident practices, especially the achievement of thermal comfort in residential units. New technologies based on hydronic heating and cooling have presented several technical and conceptual challenges.

• These challenges have contributed to a sense of community, particularly among Village “pioneers” who endured early system challenges. Social networks, education sessions and social media platforms such as Facebook are all encouraging residents to share experiences and foster a sense of place.

A new place in the city: Residents and managers alike spoke of the many successful features of the neighbourhood. Access to green space (such as Habitat island, pictured above), the ease of living “in place”, and a positive social envi-ronment have all contributed to an emerging sense of community. (Image credit: City of Vancouver)

In-ceiling capillary mats provide radiant heating and cooling in Village units (image above). Residents and managers alike have had to learn these new systems, which have challenged conventional notions of heat provision . (Image credit: Millennium Challenge Series)

(Image credit: City of Vancouver)

(Image credit: City of Vancouver)(Image credit: Author)

(Image credit: PFS Studio)