CURBSIDEschematic parklet design for Vancouver streets
Illustration: a parklet with tables and chairs on a Vancouver shopping street, with cyclists, a bus, cars and people passing BAKERY BOOKS FLOWERS TRATTORIA BUS BUS 14 UBC

Curbside is a schematic design and compliance tool that helps turn an idea for a Vancouver parklet into a site-specific, reviewable proposal.

Draw a parklet on a Vancouver street, check it live against the Parklet Manual and the Engineering Design Manual, and export a report.

Try the sample report Try it without an account Sign in
A parklet in front of a café: a timber deck with a bench, a table with chairs, planters and an umbrella, behind a steel railing at the curb
The reference design from the sidewalk · AI-assisted visualisation · indicative

What Curbside is

Curbside is a schematic design and compliance tool that helps turn an idea for a Vancouver parklet into a site-specific, reviewable proposal. Designed for anyone who might initiate a parklet, from a café owner to a designer preparing a first sketch, it builds the street from the address using City open data, OpenStreetMap and TransLink, incorporating lanes, bike routes, transit stops, hydrants, trees and buildings. Users can generate and refine furnished layouts according to their priorities, such as seating, planting or shade, while the Parklet Manual's clearance and access requirements are checked throughout. Each value is identified as measured, imported or estimated; only a measured value settles a check (an estimate or imported data gives a provisional result), and a survey sheet lists what must still be measured on site. From one model, Curbside produces both a schematic package for communicating the proposal and a technical package documenting compliance, assumptions and sources for pre-application review.

  • Your designs, savedDesigns are kept in your account and reopen where you left them; without an account, in this browser only.
  • Two drawing setsA schematic set to share the idea and a technical set for pre-application review, as one PDF each.
  • Photoreal rendersStreet views of your design with your own key, AI-assisted and indicative.

How it works

Five steps, from a street address to a drawing set. Shown at Commercial Drive and East 1st Avenue.

  1. Site

    The map in Curbside: the parklet's street and side chosen on Commercial Drive

    Find your street on the map and pick the side your parklet goes on; Curbside brings in the street around it.

  2. Design

    The Design tab: the deck in plan, section and 3D

    Shape the deck, choose its edge and place the furniture, or let Curbside propose layouts that already pass.

  3. Accessibility

    The Accessibility tab: the route from the sidewalk to a seat over the deck plan, and its verdict

    See the 1.5 m path from the sidewalk to a seat, and what to move when something is in the way.

  4. Check

    The Check tab: the verdict and the checks, failures first

    The Parklet Manual's checks, each with its reason; a result that rests on an estimate stays provisional until you measure it.

  5. Export

    The Export tab: the report options and Download report

    Download the drawings as a PDF, with a survey sheet to take on your site visit.

What it can look like

The reference design behind the sample report, as the Visualize tab's photoreal renders show it.

Aerial view: the parklet along the curb in front of a row of shops
Aerial · AI-assisted visualisation · indicative
From the corner: people at a table under an umbrella on the deck
From the corner · AI-assisted visualisation · indicative
From the street: a bench behind the railing, the café beyond
From the street · AI-assisted visualisation · indicative

AI-assisted visualisations, indicative. Rendered for the sample with the author's account; your own renders use the key you add.

The checks

Every design is checked against the City of Vancouver Parklet Manual's siting and design requirements.

  1. C01 All-day parking permitted (no rush-hour, bus, taxi, or loading zone)
  2. C02 Adjacent travel lane ≥ 3.0 m (3.2 m for bus/truck routes)
  3. C03 Minimum 6 m setback from nearest intersection / crosswalk edge
  4. C04 Street running slope ≤ 5%
  5. C05 Minimum 5 m clearance on either side of any fire hydrant
  6. C06 Minimum 1.5 m setback from adjacent driveways or lanes
  7. C07 Minimum 1 m clearance from poles (2.4 m if trolley wires attached)
  8. C08 Minimum 2 m clearance from traffic signal controller boxes / electrical kiosks
  9. C09 Minimum 1 m clearance from manhole lids, valves, grates, access chambers
  10. C10 Does not block Fire Dept. connections, utility connections, or fire exits
  11. C11 Curb and roadside drainage maintained — street drains not blocked
  12. C12 Minimum pedestrian clearances on boulevard / utility strip maintained
  13. C13 Minimum 1.5 m setback from adjacent parking spaces
  14. C14 Deck flush with the sidewalk (gap at most 12 mm; connector at most 13 mm)
  15. C15 Deck load capacity ≥ 7.2 kPa
  16. C16 Accessible route 1.5 m clear from an entry, 1.5 m turning space
  17. C17 Enclosure 0.75–1.0 m high on the traffic side and both ends
  18. C18 At least two unobstructed openings of 1.8 m or more to the sidewalk
  19. C19 Overhead elements at least 2.1 m clear above the deck and within the footprint