IN the next 20 years the Metro Vancouver area will change drastically, but you can have a say in what changes should happen through the Urban Futures Survey.
All you have to do is register with PlaceSpeak to verify your location and you're ready to answer the 22-minute survey.
Colleen Hardwick, CEO of PlaceSpeak and manager of the Urban Futures Survey says the past two surveys in 1973 and 1990 helped inform policy, planning and development in the Greater Vancouver Regional District.
Vancouver is often named among the most livable cities in the world. "There is a reason for that, we had some people that did some excellent planning that have provided for this excellent place we live in today," said Hardwick
The findings from the survey will give policy makers at the provincial and municipal levels hard data on people's views and attitudes that will inform their development strategy.
The questions on the survey are grouped into themes environment, community life, mobility, built environment, managing growth, governance and economy. There are also control questions that have been asked in the previous two surveys that provide longitudinal data.
Now that the survey has moved online, Hardwick says she hopes to get 2,000 responses by the deadline of Dec. 31. Each person who responds will have their location verified to ensure that the survey is getting responses from all over the Metro region.
Hardwick's father started the idea of the Urban Surveys and was involved with the first two, now his daughter continues his work. "It was his intent that the surveys be reproduced every 20 years to capture each generational cohort as they move through," said Hardwick.
To participate in the survey, go to www.urbanfuturessurvey. com.
