May 12, 2025
MURB Thesis Defence: Aaron Cheng
Monday, May 12, 2025
Please join SFU’s Urban Studies Program for a MURB thesis defence on Monday, May 12, 2025 (10 AM) at SFU’s Harbour Centre campus (Room HC 2200).
Presenter: Aaron Cheng
Thesis title: “RainCity Public Spaces: Weather-Protected Skateboard Parks for Year-Round Accessibility and Community Engagement”
RSVP: urban@sfu.ca
Examining Committee:
Dr. Meg Holden, Professor, SFU Urban Studies and Resources and Environmental Management, supervisor
Dr. Yushu Zhu, Assistant Professor, SFU Urban Studies and Public Policy, committee member
Dr. Annika Airas, Term Assistant Professor, SFU Urban Studies, chair
Dr. Troy Glover, Professor, University of Waterloo, Recreation and Leisure Studies, external examiner
Abstract:
The study asks: how do weather-protected skateboard amenities, like the Granville Island Temporary Skateboard Pavilion (GITSP), help to achieve and extend the goals outlined in the Vancouver Parks and Recreation Master Plan (VanPlay) by promoting equitable access to sports year-round, social wellbeing, and inclusive public spaces in a rainy city? The GITSP is a community-driven initiative that addresses an infrastructure gap in weather-protected public spaces for the City of Vancouver. VanPlay outlines three core principles for future recreational facilities: (1) delivering services equitably, (2) welcoming all individuals, and (3) connecting the city. This research uses these principles with additional concepts drawn from scholarship to explore the social benefits and equality outcomes of a weather-protected “temporary” skateboard facility at Granville Island, initiated by a non-profit coalition of volunteers. The study applied participant survey and stakeholder interviews as research methods to evaluate the effectiveness of the GITSP against VanPlay and research concepts on just rights to access sporting opportunities, social wellbeing, and public spaces qualities that generate social capital. This research found that the GITSP embodied three critical characteristics of equitable and inclusive recreation facilities alongside weather-protection for year-round use, which were uniting community, making recreation accessible, and enshrining a diversity of underrepresented user. In addition, concepts drawn from literature served as new tenets to evaluate the benefits of skateboard amenities for a municipal parks and recreation vision.
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