SpeakUpWinnipeg.com has had hundreds of thousands of page views since its launch on Apr. 25. Ian Hall, policy and program planner with SpeakUp Winnipeg, said he thinks the website has been successful because urban planning has been raised in public conversation.

“I’ve worked in this field for a few years, you start talking about urban planning and people didn’t have a clue,” said Hall. “The plan I think helped make urban planning a conversational topic.”

SpeakUp Winnipeg was launched to engage the community in a long-term plan for the city called OurWinnipeg. It lays out how the city is going to grow and change over the next 25 years.

There are three main aspects to SpeakUp Winnipeg: SpeakUpWinnipeg.com, a street team which went out to events from May to September talking to Winnipeggers and roundtable discussions.

There are three questions: Where do you think we are now as a city? Where do you think we should go as a city? How do you think we can get there?

Working with community partners, like the Institute of Urban Studies (IUS) at the University of Winnipeg, is an important aspect of the initiative.

“It changes the relationship and we’re working with community expertise,” said Hall.

Jino Distasio, director of IUS, said the role the institute plays is important because it helps inform the OurWinnipeg process.

“We’re taking a discussion to help inform the city on its housing policy and potentially with the OurWinnipeg process,” said Distasio.

Carolyn Minor, a Winnipeg librarian, has been following SpeakUpWinnipeg.com since its launch. Minor said she doesn’t think the website is making enough of a difference and there hasn’t been much progress since it started.

She said it’s a good place to have your say but didn’t understand what was being done with the information collected.

“I didn’t know enough about it to make a difference,” Minor said.

The information collected from SpeakUp Winnipeg is one part of the OurWinnipeg project. In November, a report will summarize what has been heard through SpeakUp Winnipeg and propose short-term actions the city can take to get started.

In January, direction papers will come out that will talk about big ideas and specific planning policy. The actual OurWinnipeg plan is set to be delivered in April 2010. All three stages will have public involvement opportunity, through SpeakUpWinnipeg.com and open houses.

Published in Volume 64, Number 7 of The Uniter (October 15, 2009)