Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

The utility and necessity of the Georgia and Dunsmuir viaducts has been an issue of polarized debate since they were reconstructed in their present form in the late 1960s. As the first piece of a larger freeway system that was planned but never realized, they stand as a symbol of an era of city-building that thankfully never more-fully materialized. With forty years lapsed since the ribbon cutting, the utility and merit of these structures continue to be debated topics in our city. Through this discussion one thing has become increasingly clear as Vancouver's central peninsula continues to build out: whether they stay or go, a far better future for the structures or the lands beneath them can be imagined.

The future of the viaducts should be contemplated in the context of the broader Eastern Core of our city, which includes the strategically important industrial lands of the False Creek Flats. How we connect the downtown and Eastern Core is crucial to how our city functions and its economic future. While arriving at a plan for the future of the viaducts, we need to understand and develop a broader strategy for moving forward in this area of our city. These two scales provide the context for the focus of this ideas competition.

(From competition brief)