The Changing Chinatown: Walking Tour

UBC CAPACity is hosting a tour of Vancouver’s Chinatown and Downtown Eastside (DTES), two contested and culturally historic neighbourhoods. This tour is guided by Herb Varley, a longtime Indigenous activist, and Beverly Ho, from Yarrow Intergenerational Society for Justice.

Chinatown is a unique neighbourhood because of its urban fabric consisting of narrow lots, interesting buildings, Western styles with Chinese elements, and tiled and glazed shop fronts that animate the sidewalk. All the while, with issues of homelessness, urban injustice and other contestations have been entangling in the DTES and complicating the neighbourhood.

Learn more about its history, development threats, its decline and get some exercise in! Tour starts at the Stadium Chinatown Skytrain Station. We will begin gathering at 11:45 am. We can't wait to see you there!

About event leaders:

Herb Varley is a Nisga'a and Nuu-chah-nulth man, a resident of the Downtown Eastside with a long history of fighting for social justice in the DTES neighbourhood. Herb is well-known known for his advocacy and community work and he is certainly not afraid to speak truth to power (The Tyee, 2020).

Yarrow Intergenerational Society for Justice 世代同行會 supports youth and low-income immigrant seniors in Chinatown and the Downtown Eastside. Yarrow builds power in community through intergenerational relationship building, and by helping seniors overcome language and cultural barriers to services that meet their basic needs. They combine service provision and grassroots organizing, with a core belief that service work is political and that as a community, we have the tools we need to take care of one another. Yarrow Intergenerational Society empowers seniors and youth to work together to improve their communities and tackle the difficult problems of oppression and violence. Their vision is of a Chinatown that is intergenerational and thriving, with accessible and culturally relevant services and an environment that cherishes our seniors and youth.

CAPACity @ UBC is a student-led initiative that aims to bring together undergraduate students interested in urban planning and its various branches. Our club strives to serve as a gateway for people to find opportunities in the field, share knowledge around local and global urban issues, and build networks with professors, planners and fellow urbanists in the city. Through workshops, speaker events, socials and career info sessions, we seek to build a strong community of interdisciplinary city planners.