Experts debate whether mini meeting spaces will replace traditional parks

You may have never heard of a parklet, but chances are good you've walked or driven past one. Maybe you've even sat in one, enjoying a coffee or a chat with a friend on a warm afternoon.

"You're taking a space that would normally not be a public space, maybe part of a road, and you're converting it," said Byron Miller, an associate professor of geography at the University of Calgary and co-ordinator of school's Urban Studies program.

"It's about expanding the public realm to create new spaces where people can interact."

Urban planners designing with public places in mind

Placemaking, the popular term coined by urban planners to address the management of public spaces, is slowly weaving into the fabric of Calgary's burgeoning satellite communities.

Local planners say the concept, once reserved for major metropolises, is becoming a focal point in the respective redevelopment of their existing spaces and development of new ones.

"It's a key element for us," said Tracy Corbett, manager of planning and sustainable development at the City of Airdrie. "We hear time and time again in our citizen surveys that parks and pathways come out number one on what people really value about Airdrie.

"There are not a lot of natural amenities – a river or a lake. So you have to work a little harder at creating great place and effective placemaking."

Earlier this year, Design Talks, or d.talks, captured the imagination of many Calgarians through its Lost Space Ideas Competition. Intended to spark interest in leftover, unused or underused spaces, the competition attracted submissions from more than 40 countries.

CREB®Now recently sat down with d.Talks co-founder Amery Calvelli to discuss everything from the competition to what she feels is Calgary's best-kept secret. Here's what she had to say:

Quebec City is taking a gazebo music pavilion in the heart of their city and replicating it in Calgary's East Village.

"I'm honoured to unveil plans for a new public space we can all enjoy," said Mayor Naheed Nenshi at the announcement. "It is an honour to receive this gift, on behalf of all Calgarians, from our sister city and its citizens."

In 2008 during Quebec City's 400th anniversary, Calgary presented the city with the sculpture Do Re Me Fa Sol La Si Do by Canadian artist Joe Fafard, which was placed on Boulevard Champlain along the banks of the St. Lawrence Seaway. Identical sculptures can be found in downtown Calgary.

Program's controversy has raised the profile of placemaking. Yet how has Calgary fared in designing its public space?

Sitting in his home studio located just south of the city, Derek Besant chuckles when asked to score Calgary's efforts at developing its public spaces.

It's like asking an artist to judge his own work.

The local artist's work is familiar with many Calgarians, having designed the iconic six-metre tall balancing-chair display dubbed Homage that has sat outside Mount Royal University's student union building since the late 1980s, as well as the Enigma exhibit that once stood at the school's east entrance.