Places and Spaces: Kitchener's park and open space strategy

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In Kitchener, we know parks aren’t just important – they’re essential. Parks are more than the sum of their parts. They are extensions of the communities they are placed in and contribute significantly to the community’s identity and individuals’ connections within it. Whether you use parks to gather, unwind, exercise, socialize, play, or celebrate, we want to hear from you. Let us know what a great park means to you!

Places and Spaces is an update to the existing Parks Strategic Plan adopted by City Council in 2010. It is the recasting of the parks plan to better reflect current demands of park space. It will re-evaluate all aspects of parks delivery in Kitchener down to the fundamental level - what makes a quality park in Kitchener?

The purpose of this strategy is to:

  1. Re-affirm Kitchener’s vision and commitment to building and maintaining public parks
  2. Provide multiple guiding principles and policy themes to inform future park development
  3. Modernize the process of park acquisitions


There are two core focuses for this strategy:

Places: the vision of parks in Kitchener. Places focuses on the quality of our parks for placemaking and creating diverse and functional spaces. Places will explore a wide range of themes, including principles of design (equity, accessibility), environmental (habitat, stormwater and climate change), and specific infrastructure planning (playgrounds, sportsfields, dog parks).

Spaces: explores the quantity of parks in Kitchener, and parks context within the City. It will detail Kitchener’s current inventory, look at the definitions of park space, determine the amount of park space we need and where, and provide or update the tools in which we acquire those spaces.

Please read the Foundations document, which outlines the Parks Strategic Plan update process, its structure and guiding principles.

We want to hear from you!

Over the next 18 months, we are engaging residents to better understand how parks are used, what barriers exist to using parks, and what you value most about parks. Guiding documents, created with the data collected from these engagements, will help shape more inclusive and all-welcoming Kitchener parks.

Subscribe for updates by adding your email to the Stay Informed box on this page, then click 'Subscribe'.


In Kitchener, we know parks aren’t just important – they’re essential. Parks are more than the sum of their parts. They are extensions of the communities they are placed in and contribute significantly to the community’s identity and individuals’ connections within it. Whether you use parks to gather, unwind, exercise, socialize, play, or celebrate, we want to hear from you. Let us know what a great park means to you!

Places and Spaces is an update to the existing Parks Strategic Plan adopted by City Council in 2010. It is the recasting of the parks plan to better reflect current demands of park space. It will re-evaluate all aspects of parks delivery in Kitchener down to the fundamental level - what makes a quality park in Kitchener?

The purpose of this strategy is to:

  1. Re-affirm Kitchener’s vision and commitment to building and maintaining public parks
  2. Provide multiple guiding principles and policy themes to inform future park development
  3. Modernize the process of park acquisitions


There are two core focuses for this strategy:

Places: the vision of parks in Kitchener. Places focuses on the quality of our parks for placemaking and creating diverse and functional spaces. Places will explore a wide range of themes, including principles of design (equity, accessibility), environmental (habitat, stormwater and climate change), and specific infrastructure planning (playgrounds, sportsfields, dog parks).

Spaces: explores the quantity of parks in Kitchener, and parks context within the City. It will detail Kitchener’s current inventory, look at the definitions of park space, determine the amount of park space we need and where, and provide or update the tools in which we acquire those spaces.

Please read the Foundations document, which outlines the Parks Strategic Plan update process, its structure and guiding principles.

We want to hear from you!

Over the next 18 months, we are engaging residents to better understand how parks are used, what barriers exist to using parks, and what you value most about parks. Guiding documents, created with the data collected from these engagements, will help shape more inclusive and all-welcoming Kitchener parks.

Subscribe for updates by adding your email to the Stay Informed box on this page, then click 'Subscribe'.


  • CLOSED: This survey has concluded.

    We would like to understand your experiences with community gardens and how Kitchener parks can better support access to food.

    This survey will take 6-8 minutes to fill out.  

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    We would like to hear from you about how parks are maintained. Specifically, we are interested in how satisfied you are with grass cutting and garbage removal. Your answers will help us to understand what is most important to residents.

    This survey will take 5-8 minutes to fill out. 

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    There are several green spaces across the city that are considered natural areas. Typically, these have the words “natural area” or “woods” in their name, but not always. Some examples include:

     

    We are interested in hearing how you use these natural areas and what you might like to learn about them. Your answers will help us to make sure these natural areas continue to meet community needs.

    This survey will take 2-3 minutes to fill out. 

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    Do you skateboard? We’d like to hear from you about our existing skateparks. Tell us what you think of those parks, about skateboarding in Kitchener in general, and where we may need to improve.

    The City of Kitchener also offers a mobile skatepark (skatium) that travels around Kitchener each summer. But in this survey, we’re only asking about the permanent skateparks located in four parks across the city.

    This survey will take 2-3 minutes to fill out. 

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    This 3-minute survey will ask you about Victoria Park, other park spaces in the city core, and how we can meet the growing need for parks downtown. Your feedback will be considered for Places and Spaces, but also for the upcoming downtown Kitchener strategy and future land uses work over the next 12-18 months. This survey closes January 13, 2022.

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    This 5-minute survey will ask you about splashpads, how often you use them, how you get there, and how satisfied you are with the ones you've used. Even if you don't use splashpads, we still want to hear from you! This survey closes January 13, 2022.

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    This 5-minute survey will ask you about sports fields and sports courts. We’d like to know how often you use them, how satisfied you are with the ones you've used, and your preferences for types of courts. Even if you don't use sports fields or courts, we still want to hear from you! This survey closes January 13, 2022.

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    Playing is important for the healthy development of children and youth. But play is also important for the mental and physical wellness of adults too. This survey will ask you about who you visit parks with and how you all like to play and have fun in parks. Your answers will help us understand how we can promote a variety of different types of play in Kitchener parks for people of all ages. 

    This survey will take 5 minutes to fill out. It closes January 13, 2022.

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    This survey is for people with disabilities, their loved ones and caretakers, as well as people who work with and for persons with disabilities. This includes people who have physical disabilities, intellectual or learning disabilities, psychiatric disabilities, visual impairments, hearing impairments, neurological disabilities, or are otherwise differently-abled.  

    We want to make parks accessible for everyone. To do that, we need to understand the types of barriers faced by individuals with disabilities in Kitchener parks. In this survey we will ask about these types of barriers: 

    • Access barriers
    • Attitude barriers 
    • Physical barriers 
    • Information and communication barriers 
    • Technology barriers
    • Systems barriers 


    We acknowledge that this survey asks about negative and difficult situations that you, or people you care about, may have faced in parks. Your comments and feedback will help us create more accessible and inclusive parks in Kitchener. 

    If you answer every question, this survey will take 15-20 minutes to fill out. But you can skip any questions you don't want to answer. Survey closes October 31, 2022. 

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    We want to know how we can make park signage more useful and inclusive. This survey will ask questions about existing park signage and what you would like to see signed in parks in the future. This survey will take 3 minutes to fill out. It closes September 30, 2022.

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    We want to do better when it comes to making parks welcoming spaces that are easy to access for everyone in our community. This survey will ask questions about how you feel in parks, how the communities you belong to want to use parks, and how we can make it easier to get to parks. This survey will take 6-8 minutes to fill out. It closes September 30, 2022.

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    Included in our draft Spaces strategy is a look at the existing park inventory to establish what the City currently has and build an understanding of how those parks are created. Building on that foundation we can establish where gaps in parks around the city are and update the tools necessary to close those gaps with new park developments. Spaces is a technical document at its core, being rooted in policy and legislation. We'd like to ask you a few questions about it to see if we're on the right track. 

    This survey will take 5-10 minutes to fill out. It is open until May 13, 2022. 

    Before you begin please read a short summary of Spaces, available in English, French, Spanish, Arabic, or Serbian.

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    The Parks team has been reviewing feedback from our first survey last year. This survey is intended to further unpack this feedbackget a well-balanced idea of existing gaps, and assess how people and pets can best share our parks. We will also ask you about your thoughts on dog facilities.

    What is a dog facility? It is a space that is specifically for dog use. It can be a fenced area (example: McLennan Dog Park) or an identified zone or area within a park space. 

    This survey will take 10 minutes to fill out. It closes April 8, 2022. 

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    We would like to know your thoughts about whether Kitchener should have a dedication program and what you think about the sponsorship and naming of parks. We would also like to hear how you use and think about other open spaces like schoolyards and cemeteries. This survey will take 10 minutes to fill out. It closes April 8, 2022. 

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    Share your feedback on visiting Kitchener parks in the winter. What do you love to do, what's important to you, and how can we make it easier for you to enjoy parks and trails in wintertime? We also want to know what you want to learn about parks and how to best share information with you about new parks initiatives.  This survey will take 5-10 minutes to fill out. It closes April 8, 2022.

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  • CLOSED: This survey has concluded.

    We want to know how residents use Kitchener parks and trails and where you'd like to see future investments. Don't use city parks or trails? We want to hear from you too. Tell us why not and what's missing. Survey open until January 7, 2022. 

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Page last updated: 21 Feb 2024, 11:23 AM