Cultivating the Power of Residents to Build Community: Lessons from Kitchener

Posted on March 12, 2018
By Heather Keam

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Over the past three decades, there has been a shift in how we connect with one another. Today, people report fewer informal social ties, decrease in tolerance and trust, and an eroding political and civic engagement atmosphere in our communities. Robert Putnam’s book Bowling Alone: the Collapse and Revival of American Community suggests that our overall experiences of being in community have been steadily declining since the 1960s. Research by Holt-Lunstad et al. suggests that social isolation has serious negative consequences for our health and well-being – the impact is likened to smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Building communities that bring residents together and help them feel a sense of belonging and connection are more likely to live longer, be healthier, be happier, and act for the common good.

While municipalities have traditionally focused on the built components of a neighbourhood -  paving sidewalks and roads or building houses, parks and arenas - cities across Canada are now realizing that city building also includes the people who live, work and play in each neighbourhood. 

The City of Kitchener’s neighbourhood strategy and engagement process, called Love My Hood, is one great example of how a city cultivated the power of residents to develop a neighbourhood strategy. The City of Kitchener has a strong history of working with their communities through the development of 13 community centers and 30 neighbourhood associations. Building on these strengths, the City recognized that there needed to be a more comprehensive approach to neighbourhood development. The City’s engagement process reached over 5,000 residents. They heard from many different community groups, such as neighbourhood associations, schools, faith communities, cultural clubs, sports teams, youth and seniors’ groups, to name a few.  The City’s engagement process included the following:

  • Going to where the people are. Setting up a lemonade stand at neighbourhood events and gathering places across the city.
  • Throwing a party. Re-imagining traditional public consultation meetings as a family friendly party.
  • Asking tough questions. Hosted first with staff and then with residents, a “red tape” reduction workshop.
  • Online discussions. Residents were given an open-ended forum to post their own ideas for making great neighbourhoods.
  • Testing placemaking. Residents were encouraged to try placemaking themselves! Nine groups of residents received grants to do placemaking.

Read more about Kitchener’s engagement strategy in our recently published Case Study and see how your city can also make a difference for your neighbourhoods. 

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Topics:
Community Building, Neighbourhood Strategy, Blog, Heather Keam


Heather Keam

By Heather Keam

Heather works with municipalities and organizations to build strategies that put people at the center using Asset-Based Community Development. With over 22 years of experience in community development, she uses an ABCD approach to center people and belonging in the development of community plans and strategies through coaching and training staff teams, facilitation, and writing about ABCD and Belonging. She has a passion for the power of people and believes that people and communities are the solutions to local problems. She believes that we need to build a sense of community belonging so that people are connected to their community, and their place within it and get involved in decision-making. She also believes that municipalities need to shift the way they show up in community from doing “for” to supporting communities to do themselves.

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