Encouraging thoughtful community feedback has been a cornerstone of the Cogswell District project from the outset.
Public feedback, gathered during engagement sessions held from August through October 2018, is being used to inform the 90% design which will be presented as part of a staff report to Regional Council in the new year. View the Engagement Report.
Summer & Fall 2018 | 90% design
- In the summer and fall of 2018, Cogswell District engagement focused on two topics: public spaces and urban design rules for new buildings.
- Engagement included:
- Nine pop-ups held throughout the Halifax region
- Key stakeholder engagement meetings with members of the African Nova Scotian and Mi’kmaw communities, as well as representatives from Shelter Nova Scotia
- A three-day design charrette, including a site visit and expo event at Scotia Square
- Online engagement including a survey, interactive engagement map, video, and social media
- Approx. 40,000 engagement video views.
- Nearly 300,000 accounts reached through organic and paid Facebook & Instagram posts.
- More than 120,000 accounts reached through Twitter posts.
- 435 contributions were made via the online feedback tools, including survey responses and ‘pins’ posted to the online map seeking feedback on public spaces.
- Thoughtful feedback from residents resulted in roughly 100 ideas about parks, plazas, streetscapes, greenways, public art, and commemoration of history within the area. Residents also provided input on building designs, which will help inform next steps with future engagement regarding the Municipal Planning Strategy (MPS) and Land Use By-laws (LUB) associated with Cogswell District.
- All ideas and feedback are summarized in the Engagement Report (note: clicking link will open a large PDF file) prepared by FBM. These ideas will now enable the Cogswell District project team to complete the 90% design.
- Stay tuned for more details on the design which will be presented as part of a staff report to Regional Council in the new year.
Spring 2018 | 60% design
- Cogswell project team conducted extensive outreach to a wide range of stakeholders including adjacent landowners, developers, special interest groups, utilities, and members of the general public.
- Seven public engagement sessions were held in April and May of 2018 to update and engage residents and stakeholders on the Cogswell District 60% design plan. Input was sought on the public realm elements of the project: active transportation components, park and open spaces, elements of a proposed urban square, transit hub details and streetscape design details.
- 145 written comment cards were submitted by those who attended the series of seven engagement sessions and the Shape Your City online engagement portal received 2,100 visitors with 628 online survey submissions.
Oct 2016 | Kick-off event & information session
- Cogswell project team hosted public information session at Casino Nova Scotia on Oct. 26, 2016 to mark the beginning of the detailed design phase of the Cogswell District.
- The event included a welcome from the Mayor, a project update from the Project Director, John Spinelli, an opportunity to meet the newly-hired Prime Design Consultant and a chance to engage with project staff and other key stakeholders.
- Attendees were provided with a status update, an overview of where we go from here, and a chance to engage with project staff and key stakeholders on this important city-building initiative.
- Several hundred people attended the event.
May 2013 | Cogswell “Shake Up”
- On May 16, 2013, an extensive public engagement program was hosted by Mayor Savage and the Strategic Urban Partnership coined the “Shake-Up”. From that program, a Shake-Up Report was compiled with 10 proposed key aspirational themes to guide the project going forward.
- Using feedback gathered from the Cogswell Shake-Up, the Cogswell Lands Plan – an extensive redevelopment plan for the district – was created.
Ongoing communications efforts
An integrated communications strategy will ensure that property owners, stakeholders and general public are well informed about the progress of the Cogswell District initiative, including timely project and traffic updates as necessary.