Supporting Partnerships for Urban Reinvestment (SPUR)

Client The City of Calgary
Location Calgary | Alberta | Canada

The Supporting Partnerships for Urban Reinvestment (SPUR) pilot project empowers the public and The City of Calgary to work together to identify often overlooked public space improvements in established communities. The project goal is to enhance public spaces, improve walkability, create new lines of communication between City Hall and the community, and improve the quality of life for local residents. The City engaged O2 to develop and undertake a creative community engagement process in keeping with the innovative spirit of the project.

O2 developed and implemented an extremely successful community engagement and communication plan that created multiple opportunities for residents to provide input into the planning process. O2 used innovative engagement techniques such as proprietary public participation GIS web-mapping and voting tools, walking tours, community BBQ and skating events, project postcards, social media, and information boards
to engage diverse groups within the Kingsland community. 

Successful engagement planning allowed O2 to overcome several barriers that have prevented effective consultation in the past, and implement the most successful engagement process in Kingsland’s 50+ year history.

Findings from the engagement process enabled The City and empowered the community to identify and prioritize desired capital improvements. The success of SPUR Kingsland is enabling The City of Calgary to find new ways of collaboratively identifying and resolving public realm problems while establishing long-term relationship within the community.