Community hubs: rethinking space

NRU
Feb. 24, 2016
By Leah Wong

The provincial government is in the process of trying to determine what tools local leaders need to develop community hubs that better deliver services to residents.

Last summer Premier Kathleen Wynne’s community hubs advisory group released a strategic framework and action plan that provided the government with recommendations to guide the creation of community hubs.

Wynne’s community hubs special advisor Karen Pitre told participants of the Ontario Good Roads Association and Rural Ontario Municipal Association conference that the action plan seeks to make it easier for local leaders to create community hubs that meet the needs of their residents. She said the group avoided defining community hubs as they change depending on the needs of each municipality.

“Community hubs are about integrated services to better meet the need of communities and [their residents],” said Pitre. “[Hubs are] where multiple services can be offered in a single location.”

A number of provincial ministries - including health, education and municipal affairs and housing - have been involved in the work on community hubs. Pitre says the province is trying to make it easier for local leaders to work with multiple ministries to create hubs.

One of the challenges that municipalities presently face is working with the local school boards to utilize schools as community hubs. Pitre said through the group’s consultation members heard that the relationship between school boards and local governments is broken in many municipalities and the province is working to help fix those relationships.

Community hubs are not a new concept and there are already many working examples across the province.

“These [hubs] have largely risen due to the work of local heroes and not typically the work of a coordinated policy framework,” said Pitre.

In Middlesex County, for example, rural libraries have been successfully transformed into community hubs. The local municipalities have had the opportunity to take advantage of these libraries, which they own, to better deliver services to residents.

Strathroy-Caradoc mayor Joanne Vanderheyden told conference participants that their local library contains a shared office that local service providers use as a mobile work station to meet with residents at the library. This reduces the need for residents to travel greater distances to access the services they need.

In addition to accessing the libraries, Vanderheyden said residents can visit the attached museum, receive one-on-one technology training and access social services. One of the benefits of this model is that it reduces the stigma of people accessing social services as these clients are indistinguishable from everyone else using the library.

“It’s a one-stop location and it’s centrally located,” said Vanderheyden. “The space is available on an as-needed basis and can be adapted as necessary.”

There are also examples of community hubs across Ontario that have a bigger focus on economic development. These commonly appear in the form of co-working spaces that provide local entrepreneurs with shared office space.

As the economy is shifting to become more knowledge or creative based, University of Waterloo urban development Ph.D. candidate Audrey Jamal said municipalities have to find ways to make room for this sector. With more young people considering entrepreneurial opportunities, Jamal said encouraging this type of hub will encourage young people to stay put.

“For smaller communities it really speaks to retention. If you have a higher education institution within your city, retention of young people is central to economic growth,” said Jamal.

In addition to providing workspace for small businesses, co-working space providers can work with local municipalities to provide additional support services to entrepreneurs.

Jamal said another benefit of co-working spaces for local municipalities is that they often transform underutilized real estate, creating demand for supportive businesses in the surrounding area.