A new strategy for public space planning takes the stops off small-wheeled sports.  
By Katharine Logan
Image by van der Zalm + associates.
There?s no question that skateboarding gets a bad rap. The National Safety Council ranks it safer than baseball?not to mention hockey and football?but it?s perceived as risky. Noise from skate wheels is negligible at 50 feet, but it?s perceived as noisy. And although skaters comprise a wide demographic, they?re stereotyped as teenage boys with a predilection for delinquency.
Misperceptions like these often lead to public spaces that are designed to thwart the sport. In Vancouver, Canada, however, where skateboarding has deep roots, a paradigm-shifting new strategic plan embraces skateboarding as a valid use of the city and is expanding the opportunities to enjoy it. Image by van der Zalm + associates.
Developed by van der Zalm + associates for the municipal park board, Vancouver?s CitySkate envisions an interconnected, citywide network of skate amenities. Beyond parks, the 20-year plan, which won a 2023 Canadian Society of Landscape Architects Award of Excellence, aims to integrate small-wheeled sports like skateboarding, scootering, and BMX into the wider fabric of the city?s streets and public spaces. ?Our skateparks can?t satisfy the growing number of skateboarders,? says Michelle Larigakis, a planner with the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation. ?In the right place and at the right time, street and city skating is a legitimate...