Open Collections

Abstract

Re-­‐imagining Whalley is an academic inquiry as well as a storytelling map, a social media application hosting a series of collaborative short films reimagining.surrey.ca It aspires to become an open platform for the exchange of stories about Whalley (a neighbourhood in North Surrey) and its people. This application will allow users to upload their own written comments, audio podcast, and videos about Whalley. The participatory short films can be accessed through the dedicated website online reimagining.surrey.ca These short films were produced throughout 2011 and 2012. Participants (storytellers) were given 35 mm cameras to photograph places of personal resonance to them. These photos together with personal interviews were edited into short videos that are available in Youtube and can be streamed from reimagining.surrey.ca The project was carried out in partnership with the City of Surrey Social Planning Department, the Web and New Media Team, and residents of Whalley. As an exercise of academic inquiry Re-­‐imagining Whalley explores the potential of communicative planning as an interactive and interpretative process for dealing with multiple systems of meanings about place. This project aims to escape the permanence of representation, the contingencies of time and space, and the politics of voice by creating an open medium (an interactive online platform) where potentially all users can produce new meanings. This kind of project could facilitate (post) representations of shifting realities and multiple positioning. As a planning intervention, the purpose was to build on the feelings of community pride in Whalley, to portray a positive image that can attract residents to the new developments in the area, and to create a bottom-­‐ up communication channel between the City of Surrey and Whalley residents to facilitate participatory planning practices.