1. Work
M.Urb thesis defence presentation illustrated by Aman (Sept 9, 2022)︎︎︎
1. Making Space
(Master of Urban Studies thesis]
Keywords: Newton, Surrey; temporary use; interim users; creative placemaking; DIY urbanism; unsafety; community-engaged research, go-along interviews, photo-voice
This community-engaged research highlights a spectrum of intentions, perceptions, and ramifications behind the temporary use of transition spaces in Newton, Surrey from 2014-2020
The significance of these spaces is that their different interim users challenged ‘dominant’ prescribed uses or lack of uses, and in turn, proposed short-term creative appropriations of previously vacant and stigmatized spaces in the City of Surrey. These creative interventions emerged out of necessity, predominantly centered around the issue of safety for women.
Although temporary and short-lived, the trial-and-error approach of these interventions has created powerful effects for this neighborhood: empowering residents who might have previously felt helpless - or intimidated - to take responsibility and engage in decision-making processes that affect their lives.
This research also unfurls the spatial and relational dynamics, alongside consequences of these temporary efforts under contemporary neoliberal conditions. There have been tensions around inclusion and access, particularly in relation to how and who is allowed to shape and reclaim these spaces. These tensions make visible social, cultural, and economic differences amongst temporary users, informing biases and perceptions of their and others’ role in these spaces. Even with best intentions at heart, these relational dynamics coupled with pressures from the City, can exacerbate feeling of unsafety, elicit burnout, and even cause exclusion and displacement of those already on the periphery.
Read the full thesis here.
For this research, I was awarded a graduate fellowship with SFU Community Engaged Research Initiative and Alumni Award for Community Engagement from SFU Urban Studies
2. Other research
Keywords: community-engaged research framework, employment equity, deskilling of immigrant racialized women, refugee housing, accessible transit, podcasting
︎︎︎ Established in 2020, the City in Colour Cooperative is a team of interdisciplinary community organizers, architects, data analysts, multimedia artists and designers comprised of women from diverse identities and backgrounds.
2.1 City in Colour (CiC) Cooperative ︎︎︎ As a co-director, I support several research projects centered around themes of social equity, justice and community power in the city of Surrey. We take great pride in our membership base, which is primarily composed of racialized immigrant women. Our collective lived experiences inform our work, and we are dedicated to engaging with marginalized communities in a substantive and authentic manner. Our specialized services include community engagement, urban design, and research.
Our overarching goal is to cultivate equitable, accessible, and thriving urban environments where individuals feel a deep sense of belonging. Our work is centered primarily in Surrey, and we are involved in a variety of projects that tackle complex issues such as employment equity, deskilling of immigrant women, refugee housing, and resident engagement for social housing providers.
2.2 SFU Community Engagement Research Initiative (CERi), Accessible Transit Pilot Project (Partnership with City of Vancouver) ︎︎︎ I co-developed a community-engaged research framework to study the outcomes of a low-income transit subsidy program for residents of specific modular housing units.
2.3 SFU’s Carnegie Community Engagement Classification Office ︎︎︎ I supported the data collection, analysis, writing, and communication of community engagement activities across learning and teaching, scholarship, research and creative activity at SFU. This work was intended to support a process for institutional learning and transformation where high-quality community engagement is deeply rooted and pervasive.
2.4 SFU TD Community Engagement Centre ︎︎︎ I co-organized SFU Farm to Campus Initiative at the Surrey Campus to provide affordable and fresh produce to students south of the Fraser during COVID-19.
2.5 SFU Urban Studies ︎︎︎ I produced Temporarily Urbane, a podcast in which members of the SFU Urban Studies community pick up the mic to talk cities once and cities future, the urban lives we live and dream about and the people, ideas and options the city has left behind, misplaced, misguided.
3. Communication specialist and designer
(2015-2021)
Keywords: communications, websites, print, digital marketing, higher education, student engagement & retention, fundraising
For 5 years, I worked as a communicator for Simon Fraser University. I supported numerous departments and faculties including Department of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies, Department of Indigenous Studies, Department of Gerontology and Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS). I collaborated with different teams to design website, print and graphic materials, as well as A/B testing different digital marketing campaigns to support student recruitment and retention. I also managed and trained junior staff.
As a freelance communication and design consultant, I worked with various local not-for-profit organizations, researchers and small businesses.
︎ hello@amanchandi.com