Community Dialogue
Connect Bonnie Doon
As cities adapt to growth and affordability pressures, redeveloping aging shopping centres into mixed use neighbourhoods can unlock new housing and amenities, but only if the surrounding community is genuinely brought into the conversation.
A storefront conversation, sustained over time, that turned public insight into a clearer path for redevelopment.
Morguard needed to revitalize the Bonnie Doon Shopping Centre, and they knew it would require trust, clarity, and real two-way dialogue. Over 10 months, the team ran three phases of engagement aligned to a new phased rezoning approach, creating time and space for the community to learn, ask questions, and influence the plan as it evolved.
Profile
Client: Morguard Investments
Practice Area: Community Dialogue
Impact Domain: Urbanism
Partner: B&A Studio, Bunt and Associates, DESIGNCORP, Alpin Martin
Award: 2020 Alberta Professional Planners Institute Award of Planning Merit
Work
Designed and facilitated a three-phase community dialogue process (six weeks total) that supported long-term planning and created multiple, accessible ways for people to participate.
Created and operated “The Inspiration Centre,” a customized storefront that enabled 200+ hours of face-to-face, small-group conversations, prioritizing depth over one-time, high-volume events. Cumulative
Curated information carefully by phase so the conversation stayed understandable and useful, while consistently showing “what we heard” and how that input informed the next iteration.
Synthesized participation and insights across the full process, capturing input from 5,653 participants and 3,626 ideas, and translating that learning into clear thematic direction for decision-making.
