Statement
Chinatown Plaza sits in the National Historic Site of Vancouver’s Chinatown and is one of our city’s most treasured cultural assets. It is also owned by the City of Vancouver and has been left woefully underused. As of May 2025, 15 of the Plaza’s 22 ground-floor retail units were unleased, holding back Chinatown’s economic and cultural vitality. The City already has the tools to fix this, but hasn’t actually supported the community in building something better for Chinatown. OneCity will give the City’s existing Chinatown Advisory Committee a dated, funded, and mea- surable mandate to breathe new life into the Plaza. That will come with meaningful cultural programming, baseline dignity and safety for neighbours, and a direct link to City Council’s storefront activation pilot. It will be paired with public annual reporting with real numbers, so Chinatown residents and small businesses can hold us accountable. Finally, OneCity will connect Chinatown Plaza’s investment to the City’s broader Chinatown efforts, like the 2012 Chinatown neighbourhood plan and revitalization strategy, the Chinatown Heritage and Asset Mapping Study, and other programs. This will ensure that revitalizing the Plaza will reinforce work already being done, not duplicate it.
Overview
Chinatown Plaza sits in the National Historic Site of Vancouver’s Chinatown and is one of our city’s most treasured cultural assets. It is also owned by the City of Vancouver and has been left woefully underused. As of May 2025, 15 of the Plaza’s 22 ground-floor retail units were unleased, holding back Chinatown’s economic and cultural vitality. The City already has the tools to fix this, but hasn’t actually supported the community in building something better for Chinatown. OneCity will give the City’s existing Chinatown Advisory Committee a d.