Downtown Eastside Social Impact Assessment

 

From 2011 to 2013, Tanya Fink (as a City of Vancouver employee) was the lead planner on the DTES Social Impact Assessment which identified community assets, assessed potential impacts of development, and outlined a plan for managing and monitoring community assets and impacts over time in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside neighbourhood.

 

Tanya led the design and implementation of an extensive consultion process which involved over 600 low-income and vulnerable populations in partnership with 16 local community agencies.  She facilitated over 30 workshops and focus groups using asset mapping and gap analysis techniques to identify at risk community assets. She later used the information gathered to assess the potential social impacts of new development in seven key theme areas:

⦁    Housing  and Homes
⦁    Livelihoods
⦁    Places and the built environment
⦁    Early Learning and Care, Education, Recreation and Parks
⦁    Health and Social Services
⦁    Food Access and Security
⦁    Inclusion, Belonging, Connectedness and Safety
        
Over 35 potential impact areas were identified within these themes and later incorporated into the DTES Local Area Planning Process, where Tanya was Planner II from 2013-2014. Here, Tanya co-created the DTES Social Impact Management Framework which prioritized community-based development, good neighbour practices and community asset management to mitigate these potential social impacts. 

 

To see the full report, click here

 

For media coverage, click here