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The Community Parks Framework is a new approach to increase equitable access to community park amenities to enable a better life for all Edmontonians.
The is a new approach to support the development and renewal of community park amenities. With implementation of this new framework, the Neighbourhood Park Development Program will be phased out. The framework aligns with City policies such as The City Plan, ConnectEdmonton, Breathe, GBA+ and the Infrastructure Asset Management Policy to guide strategic development and renewal in a consistent, equitable and responsible manner.
Community Parks are 1 of 6 types of parks defined in BREATHE and an important part of the City’s green network. These parks are located within almost every neighbourhood and are designed to meet the social and recreation needs of the people in the neighbourhood.
Often these parks are named for the neighbourhood and they may include community leagues or schools. They may be managed under a Joint Use Agreement.
The NPDP funding model has led to inequitable distribution of park amenities across the city.
NPDP required partnership with the community. Community groups were active participants working with a team of City staff through all phases of a park development project and were financial partners. This placed significant demands on communities requiring a lot of time, effort and fundraising ability.
In cases where a community group does not have capacity to undertake an NPDP project, or if the condition deteriorates prior to the project advancing, City Operations maintains the current equipment to a safe standard if possible, or removes pieces. This leaves some playgrounds and community parks with reduced amenities. Communities with more capacity to fundraise may have renewed assets prior to the end of their life cycle which increases overall capital and operating costs.
This has resulted in inequity as park amenities are developed and renewed based on community fundraising capacity and resources, rather than the need for new amenities or the condition of existing amenities. While some communities have been more successful than others in their ability to access City funding, overall, funding allocated to the renewal of community parks and amenities has been underspent over the previous 2 budget cycles.
No other City assets are delivered or renewed in this manner.
No, the Community Parks Framework has a defined scope and does not consider distribution and quality targets for community-led amenities. These amenities are planned, funded and operated by other organizations including community leagues and homeowner associations, with the City providing approvals, guidance and project management support to ensure projects are built to required codes and standards. Examples include community halls, ice rinks and community gardens. Administration will continue to review and support these requests outside of the Community Parks Framework. The implementation of Breathe, and the development of revised park and amenity standards will provide Administration a tool to better assess and support community-led park development requests.
The Community Parks Framework aligns with City policies such as The City Plan, ConnectEdmonton, Breathe, GBA+ and the Infrastructure Asset Management Policy. It is intended to guide strategic investment of both renewal and growth in a consistent, equitable and responsible manner.
Administration is committed to working collaboratively with the school boards to address gaps in provision levels. The school boards were engaged through the development of the community parks framework. Through the Joint Use Agreement - Land review, additional discussions will be held to clarify roles and responsibilities for the renewal and growth of community park amenities. At this time, both the City and school boards develop and maintain playgrounds on their respective properties.
The framework applies to amenities on City-owned land. Discussions are ongoing between the City and school boards about the joint use agreement that guides the planning, assembly, design, development and maintenance of joint use sites for school and park purposes. While there are a number of existing playgrounds on school board land, under the Community Parks Framework playgrounds adjacent to new schools are intended to be developed on City owned or joint use land.
Through the approval of the 2023-26 capital budget, the Community Parks Framework is being implemented. Funding was allocated for the renewal of community park amenities, however no funding was allocated for the development of new community park amenities. The City is currently advancing renewal of park amenities with the funding allocated.
The NPDP will be phased out during this budget cycle and community park amenity development and renewal will be prioritized to support equity and access city-wide.
The Community Parks Framework does not consider distribution and quality targets for community-led amenities i.e. amenities located predominantly on City-owned land, subject to an agreement with the City such as a lease, license or maintenance agreement.
These amenities are planned, funded and operated by other organizations including community leagues and homeowner associations, with the City providing approvals, guidance and project management support. Examples include community halls, ice rinks and community gardens.
No. NPDP funding is no longer available for projects that did not submit the required documentation prior to the Oct. 15, 2022 deadline. Under the Community Parks Framework, the provision of core, secondary and some speciality amenities will be the responsibility of the City.
Projects identified prior to the Oct. 15 2022 deadline for intake have been allocated sufficient funding, provided the community groups are able to complete fundraising goals and have the projects completed by the end of 2026.
As of May 2023, there are currently 39 active NPDP projects at various stages of planning and design as well as construction delivery from early concept through to warranty and closeout.
The Community Parks Framework is intended to inform the update to the Urban Parks Management Plan (UPMP) which is funded through the 2023-26 budget. As implementation of Breathe is advanced, it is anticipated updates to the City’s open space standards and guidelines will be required. Ultimately, the Community Parks Framework and associated provision levels will be confirmed and incorporated into the UPMP update.
While the community-led process remains in place, Administration is not recommending community park amenities be advanced through the community led process to address the equity and sustainability challenges with the NPDP program. However, communities are encouraged to identify projects within the community-led process to support improvements on League Licensed land in their community parks.
As identified by Breathe, a lighting strategy for open space should be advanced. In the interim, the City will consider safety lighting along shared used pathways and at strategic locations within community parks.
Typical sportsfield fixtures would be baseball and soccer and would be delivered in alignment with the Sports Field Strategy.
Core playgrounds will each be allocated a budget, with the intent to provide a general level of consistency with regard to playability that would be common across community parks. Within that budget, and through engagement with the community, playground equipment will be confirmed from available options. In addition, other core amenities such as access walkways, site furniture, bike racks and landscaping will round out the site. Comparable projects were designed and constructed through provincial infrastructure funding, with new playgrounds completed in the neighbourhoods of Inglewood, Baturyn, Wellington, Caernarvon and Calder each with a distinct look and feel. The largest and most diverse playgrounds will be planned for destination parks, such as Metropolitan Parks (such as, Borden Park) or District Parks (for example, Jackie Parker Recreational Area).
The Community Parks Framework aims to achieve equitable distribution of community park amenities. The community will work with the City to design and choose attributes of the core amenities within the available budget. The budget will be established based on average costs of construction from previous projects and will provide amenities such as: playground equipment, seating, walkways and landscaping.
Opportunities for enhancements and community contributions are related to speciality amenities. It is envisioned that if a community group wishes to add a speciality amenity, and this is in alignment with target levels of service, there would be the opportunity for the community to contribute funding.
A district-level, as defined by the City Plan districts, approach will be taken to assess the opportunity for specialty amenities. We are currently working on the implementation details and anticipate this will be a data-driven and phased approach.
We will be reviewing provision levels as part of the Urban Parks Management Plan update. At this time, we cannot confirm if there will be a reduction in amenities, however, as community parks and other park amenity provision levels are renewed, different types of amenities may be provided to reflect changes in community demographics and expectations. Ultimately, the program is intended to provide a more equitable distribution of amenities city-wide, in accordance with yet to be established levels of service.
All new or redeveloped play areas on City parkland are required to be designed, constructed and maintained according to CAN/CSA-Z614 Children's Playspace and Equipment Standard – Annex H. Annex H spells out the base-level requirements for an accessible play space.
The Children Playspace and Equipment Standard also defines accessibility for those persons with disabilities at both ground and above ground levels of the play area and spells out the specifications for how this is to be achieved.
In addition, the City is committed to improving accessibility for all. Future capital development, such as parks, will be guided by the Corporate Accessibility Plan, the Accessibility for People with Disabilities Policy (C602) and the City of Edmonton Access Design Guide.
Community engagement was undertaken in developing the Community Parks Framework and involved workshops, meetings, and online surveys with key stakeholders including:
Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues (EFCL)
There was overall support for the updated approach and the resulting feedback was used to help inform and refine the Framework.
In this new framework, community engagement and involvement will be critical to project success. The City will continue to involve the community, however, partnership or funding from the community will no longer be required. The design process for projects initiated through the Community Parks Framework will include public and stakeholder engagement. We will invite the community to support decision making and provide feedback on design solutions.
The City will continue to build community partnerships as we look to add speciality amenities and to continue working with the development industry. Specialty amenities developed by communities provide an opportunity to bring creative and distinct elements to community parks, reflecting the priorities of the neighbourhoods they serve.
We envision meeting the community where they are at. For those neighbourhoods keen to come together and work with the City, we welcome that. For neighbourhoods that don’t have as much capacity, the expectations for their involvement and engagement will be adjusted to their needs. We will continue to encourage community involvement through the project engagement and community-led processes.
To identify priority projects, a variety of data will be analyzed that includes needs of the community. Once a project is underway in a neighbourhood, the community will be engaged to provide input on the design and development to ensure the unique needs are addressed.
The Community Parks Framework aims to achieve equitable distribution of community park amenities. Consequently, projects will now be advanced based on addressing servicing/provisions gaps rather than fundraising capacity or resources of a community partner.
Each project will be unique and combine the talents of landscape architects, the creativity of community, context of the neighbourhood and consideration of new ideas that will foster innovation in community park amenities.
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