Courtney McLaughlin describes the situation in Vancouver, British Columbia, where the downtown has seen large increases in population but still lacks public space. The approach the city has used over the past two summers and during the 2010 Winter Olympics has been to close off a downtown street to traffic and allow artists and vendors to set up shop. The city is now working with the Vancouver Public Space Network to gauge interest in closing the street permanently and turn it into downtown Vancouver’s only public square.
