Hanzhi Wang

In my personal life, I try to minimize my environmental footprint whenever possible. I avoid buying new items where possible, instead opting to repair, reuse, or repurpose items I already have, or buying second hand, and helping friends to do the same. I also support right-to-repair legislation aimed at making electronic devices more repairable and less disposable. I'm also an active participant in my local buy-nothing group to support a circular economy for our furniture and other items.

I also eat a primarily plant-based diet and try to buy local seasonal produce when possible. Not only is this an easy way to reduce the carbon emissions involved in our food supply chain, it's also great for my health!

Addressing climate change will require a coordinated effort between all levels of government, but we as a city can lead by example while putting pressure on the Provincial and Federal governments to enact change.

I believe the most effective climate actions are ones that do not place additional onus on individuals, and make it easy for people to pick the option that's also good for the environment. My transportation policies will make active modes of transport (walking, biking, and public transit) the fastest, cheapest, and most convenient way to get around so that it becomes an easy choice to leave the car at home, saving money in the process and encouraging healthy habits.

My housing policies which encourage more missing-middle density and mixed-use developments are also aimed at decreasing the distance that people need to travel to work, shop, and play, which will help reduce emissions as well as save people time and money on commuting.

I will fight to build infrastructure for alternative modes of transportation, such as bike and transit priority lanes, to encourage people to use alternatives to driving. Not only do these investments make it more appealing to choose options other than driving, they also make our streets safer by separating different types of traffic and providing a buffer between car lanes and the sidewalk.

In terms of traffic safety, too often, a single dangerous driver or ear-shatteringly loud car makes the street feel hostile for everyone. We need to implement physical traffic calming infrastructure such as wider kerbs and speed bumps, especially around parks and schools, as well as more enforcement around traffic and noise violations. I believe we can make use of tactical urbanism strategies to deploy these changes quickly and cheaply to make an immediate impact while we work on building out longer term transit infrastructure projects, such as Bus Rapid Transit.

I will work to reclaim the copious amounts of public space given to private vehicles in this city, and return it to the people in the form of transit priority lanes, grade-separated bike routes, and wider sidewalks. Not only will this encourage people to use alternative modes of transit, it will make our streets safer, faster to get around, and more pleasant to navigate for everyone, even including those who still need to drive.

I will also work with Translink and provincial authorities to improve transit coverage and connectivity across the city, so that it can become the faster, cheaper, and preferred option for everyone.

Our zoning laws also dictate the effectiveness of our transit system - it's much easier to provide quality transit when neighbourhoods are designed around them. My policies will encourage more density and mixed-use developments around existing transit corridors, increasing the proportion of people that are able to get around without a car.

I will enable and encourage more high density, missing-middle density, and mixed use developments across the city. These are the types of housing we need to provide affordable homes for lower-income families and individuals, and are also much more energy efficient, both in terms of the buildings themselves and their use of public utilities. Having more mixed-use neighbourhoods also reduces the amount people need to travel for shopping, work, and recreation.

I will also incentivize retrofitting existing housing with energy-efficient heat pumps, including providing resources for strata buildings to help them navigate the process. As someone who recently worked with their strata to get a heat pump installed, I understand first-hand how the lack of a pre-existing framework makes this process much more difficult.

Regarding homelessness, our one-size-fits-all approach to supportive housing is failing our most vulnerable population. Homelessness comes in all shapes and sizes, and our approach needs to reflect that. I will work to build more suitable shelter and housing units for individuals and families that are experiencing temporary homelessness, while ensuring that members of the longer-term homeless are given services that help them rehabilitate and reintegrate into our community. Not only is this the more humane approach, it has also been proven to be more cost-effective than dealing with the consequences of a large homeless population.

I think many of our existing parks - such as Burnaby Lake, Deer Lake, and Burnaby Mountain - are already doing a great job of this. They are well-maintained natural ecosystems with a lot of native plant diversity and permeable surfaces for rainwater. We can use them as a model as we look at other parts of the city.

There is room for improvement in urban areas. We should look for opportunities to convert under-utilised areas into more effective green spaces. A great first step for example would be to convert areas under SkyTrain tracks to community garden plots - these tend to be in high-density areas with existing demand for garden space, and will help to feed local communities.

Additionally, our urban canopy currently disproportionately favours wealthier neighbourhoods. As we build out our sidewalks in the city, I will ensure we line them with trees in order to provide future residents with shade during our increasingly hot summers.

Another opportunity for better green space is people's own yards. Too many houses have large patches of water-intensive imported lawns on them, and I believe a little encouragement can go a long way by showing people how they can transform their own gardens with native plants or to grow their own food.