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could experience power outages all over the
city leaving residents without use of critical
communication devices. For this reason the
NeighbourHub features two pedal charging
stations that allow users to back their bike into
the structure to generate power. LED lights glow
to indicate how many Watts of energy are being
generated by the user, and possibly the friends or
neighbours racing beside them. Power is stored
within multiple 12 volt batteries to charge cell
phones and the embedded radio, which will be
crucial to obtain information during disaster
situations when wireless networks are down.
Vancouver’s abundance of fresh, drinkable water
(in the form of rain) is captured via the structure’s
large surface area that acts two-fold as shelter.
The rainwater is then filtered by charcoal and
UV filters to meet municipal regulations and is
funneled into a 1500 gallon cistern which, if full,
has the ability to provide one litre of water a day
to 3,000 residents for the 72 hours following a
disaster . Residents can fill their water bottles,
and watch the water collection gauge move,
giving them a sense of water availability. A
community board serves asa platform for sharing
information, whether weekly neighbourhood

events or critial skill and equipment-sharing
during disaster response and recovery.

CO-CREATING RESILIENCE

Our multidisciplinary team has approached the
Neighbourhub project by identifying local assets
across sectors that could inform our design. We
defined resilience as a population’s ability to
develop regenerative solutions to challenges,
being both structurally adaptable and socially
responsive [3]. By delving deeper into the
literature on resilience and previous examples
of disaster response and recovery, we have
found that the most successful technological
projects are those that include and empower
the local community members [4]. We have
learned that a community’s ability to effectively
bounce back from shocks depends on a range of
decisions and environmental factors, including
efforts to improve social cohesion, and create
networks that connect people with institutions
[5]. In particular, we understand that Vancouver
requires stronger social support networks to
ensure the population’s wellbeing when other
systems fail. It is anticipated that following a
natural disaster Vancouver will be left with

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limited, if any, access to clean drinking water or
power for what could be months [6]. It wasmade
apparent to us that Vancouver needs a way to
stock up on the resources that could be lost, and
most importantly start the conversation around
preparedness [7].

To start developing our solution, we turned
to experts. We have consulted over a dozen
specialists and City of Vancouver staff with
expertise in planning, energy production, water
collection, and clean technology. Each meeting
brought new ideas, questions and knowledge
that enabled us to refine our design. For example,
Katie McPherson, Vancouver’s Chief Resilience
Officer, emphasized that each community
faces unique resilience challenges; therefore,
our design needs to be adaptable to different
neighbourhoods. As a team we are working to
develop a proposal for the City of Vancouver that
thoughtfully aligns with the upcoming Resilient
City Strategy, and supports the existing Healthy
City, Rain City and Renewable City Strategies
and the Greenest City Action Plan.

In order to create a design that meets the needs
of the Vancouver population, we have sought
public participation in the design process. We