About
Team
Multidisciplinary Design + Planning Expertise
Vibrant Places Inc. is a nimble, multidisciplinary consultancy founded by Gloria Venczel, BES., B.Arch., RPP, MCIP, Principal/Urban Designer, as a socio-economic response to covid-19. She is an award winning professional and city building innovator, with 10 years experience as a former Intern Architect and over 15 years expertise in pedestrian-oriented urban design + planning, placemaking and public space programming for vibrancy, as a registered urban designer/planner. She has worked in the private, public and NGO sectors.
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Collaboration
As pedestrian oriented urban design is collaborative and is the end product of the 10 principles of smart growth, including compact, mixed-use, complete community land uses and multi-modal/public transportation, Vibrant Places Inc. works with other cutting edge consultants.
Cities + Neighbourhoods Rethink
Urban Design for Social Resiliency in the Built Environment
Vibrant Places Inc. is rethinking cities + neighbourhoods as integrated hubs for socio-economic resiliency in the built environment, problem solving for (post) covid-19, climate crisis, e- media, and e-retail impacts. With covid-19 accelerating the social media-induced isolation trends, the pandemic has highlighted how important social connectedness is for neighbourhood vibrancy and the social fabric of civil society.
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City-Scaled Economic Vibrancy + Public Spaces
With small businesses providing the majority of public spaces, which were already heavily weighted down by "phantom" density taxes, they were struggling to survive pre-covid-19. As "commerce is the genesis of cities", using the people-scaled lenses of pedestrian oriented urban design + urban planning strategies, Vibrant Places Inc. offers municipal + private sector expertise to help enhance complete and economically viable communities, create vibrant public spaces and streetscapes with a "sense of place/belonging". With such social connectedness city-building tools, Vibrant Places Inc. can help strengthen socio-economic resiliency at the neighbourhood scale, as well as architecturally seamlessly integrating new affordable housing.
Community Capacity Building
The "Vancouver Achievement" + Public Urban Design/Planning Literacy
The global award winning "Vancouver Achievement's" participatory planning strategy of public capacity building and "literacy" in urban design/ planning has yielded cutting edge, multi-generational dividends of vibrant, sustainable, green, walkable neighbourhoods. Vibrant Places Inc. believes that public capacity building in pedestrian-oriented urban design/planning has great value, especially in challenging times, in creating more resilient cities and neighbourhoods.
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Vibrant Places Inc. contributes to socio-economic resiliency in the built environment through custom, capacity building, jargon-free workshops for community members, elected officials and others on pedestrian-oriented urban design + public spaces and affordable, economically vibrant, green neighbourhoods.