Planting Imagination: Community Co-Design for Chinatown Toronto | Impact Report

Abstract

Planting Imagination ran from April 2021 to March 2023 (during a pandemic recovery period) in Toronto’s Chinatown West neighbourhood. It brought together a group of local Chinatown community organizations and Toronto Metropolitan University researchers to recruit 60 diverse ‘Chinatown Activators’ (CAs) and six Facilitators from across the community.

Community Facilitators and Activators used virtual reality (VR) technology to co-design a local community garden and develop new visions for the future of Chinatown. This process strengthened community solidarity to enable local residents to more readily steward the future of the built environment and respond collectively to challenging events like the pandemic.