That the District of Saanich define the word "vibrant".

The Issue

We the signed, call upon the District of Saanich to finally define the word "vibrant".

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Fact: the word vibrant appears 19 times in the Quadra/McKenzie Draft Plan.

Background:

The problem is that few people understand what this word really means when used by the District, especially in a planning context. Saanich Council has been asked publicly on numerous occasions for the meaning of the word that they and district staff keep using so frequently, but no one has been able to answer the question as to its meaning, as used so often by the District.

It seems that the council itself does not know what the word means, yet it appears so often in Saanich's documents, including in the most important document in the District, it's Official Community Plan (updated on May 7 2024), where the word appears a whopping 21 times!

At the same time the document, which is legally binding, like many other important documents, is almost entirely lacking in actual mathematics.

Confused and seeking an end to my and many other's confusion, I recently emailed Saanich the following:

Hello,

I noticed that the District of Saanich in its material and plans, uses the word "vibrant" very often.

Language and meaning are very important for clear communication and understanding for not only the public, but for Saanich staff as well, in order to plan and execute the content of plans accurately and correctly.

This term has confused many members of the public and I'm hoping that Saanich staff have a clearer picture of its meaning, so as not to create any confusion in the planning process, which could create problems down the line; if the left hand is out of synch with the right hand so to speak.

Does Saanich have a definition of the word vibrant?

[So far, no response has been forthcoming.]

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Upon meditating on this undefined, yet used so frequently term, I think I actually have come to understand how it works from a marketing perspective. Such words on their own don't actually seem to have any established meaning when used by politicians, government employees, developers, and hired PR companies, but sound in general positive.

Sounding 'positive' is a key tactic used in marketing due to the psychological responses they make through association.

Therefore, as "reimagining" is a documented technique used in marketing, so that the public gets an image in their head and then wants to keep it, so goes along with a proposal; these words appear to be meant to achieve the same thing, but for the public to fill in the blanks in their own minds, then want to hold onto whatever glossy phantasm, their mind conjures. Therefore each person generates for themselves the entirely subjective image they subconsciously want, and associates it with the proposal (at first).

If they think more deeply about the proposal, they might not have the same favourable impression, but the use of the term is not meant to encourage in-depth thinking, it is rather, what psychologist Daniel Kahnemann termed 'fast thought', reflexive and superficial, rather than 'slow thought', which takes time and operates in-depth and can result in more complex conclusions.

The problem then is that everyone will have a different image of what they are supporting, and what they get will not be the same, but will be - after all is said and done, what the planners wanted right from the beginning.

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So remember...