China News Service, August 19. According to a comprehensive report by Canada's "Sing Tao Daily", the security problem in Vancouver, Canada's Chinatown is getting worse. Tao Siying, a Vancouver transportation planner, went to school in Chinatown when she was young. Community Safety put forward 5 suggestions, hoping that Chinatown can regain its style as soon as possible and become a place people love to stop.
Tao Siying suggested the following:
· Free public toilets open 24 hours a day.
Going to the toilet is a basic human right, but finding public toilets is difficult.
In the absence of proper facilities, people can only go to the toilet in the grass or behind trash cans.
This creates serious health problems.
Chinatown's health problems are not insurmountable.
In the early days of the pandemic, the City of Vancouver set up successful mobile restroom projects in the south and east of the city centre.
It can be seen that safe and well-maintained toilet facilities can effectively improve the sanitation environment of the community.
Free public toilets require resources to set up and maintain, so municipalities must find sustainable long-term solutions for public toilet operations.
· Adequate street lighting.
While most roads are well lit for traffic, many pedestrian paths are not well lit.
Street lighting is important for community safety and comfort, and dark back alleys are more intimidating.
· Increase holiday celebrations and other outdoor public events.
Programs such as the Chinatown Festival, Lantern Festival and Fire Dragon Festival attract large numbers of people from all over the world to Chinatown.
Popular Chinatown feels safe, with its streets tending to be cleaner and less graffiti.
Celebrations also allow people from diverse cultures to interact and make Chinatown popular.
Many Chinatown groups like Zhongshan Park, Chinatown Chamber of Commerce, etc. are working hard to restart these events and celebrations, and they need adequate funding and a streamlined permit application process.
· Support the creativity of old Chinatown stores to meet the needs of today's consumers.
In Chinatown, there are businessmen who have modernized the old-fashioned stores, such as Jinwei Dim Sum and Fenglin Electric. In addition to selling dim sum, Jin Wei adds elements rich in historical materials to educate the public about Chinese dim sum culture.
This kind of innovation can evolve Chinatown into a place where you can buy Chinese products and learn Chinese history. This innovation needs to be strongly supported and fostered.
Facilitate assistance between community groups in Chinatown and the Downtown Eastside.
There are many organizations in both regions that provide valuable services to the community, but their resource constraints make communication and cooperation difficult.
Chinatown has many opportunities for communication and coordination between the Chinese community and the Aboriginal and African American communities.
Tao Siying hopes that Chinatown will become better, and she can continue to take her children to Chinatown to relive her childhood memories, so that the children have a sense of belonging and understand the culture, perseverance, and the importance of history of the people who live in this place.