Opinion: Vancouver must build on its FIFA World Cup momentum | Daily Hive

Granville Street Pedestrian Zone during FIFA World Cup 2026. (Matt Taylor/Downtown Van)

Written for Daily Hive Urbanized by Greater Vancouver Board of Trade president and CEO Bridgitte Anderson, Destination Vancouver president and CEO Royce Chwin, and Downtown Van president and CEO Jane Talbot.

Anthropologists use the term liminality to describe those rare moments when people leave one reality behind but have yet to enter the next. The old rules loosen. Social barriers soften. A stronger sense of collective identity emerges. It happens during festivals, pilgrimages, moments of crisis, and, most famously, major sporting events.

If you’ve spent any time in Downtown Vancouver during FIFA World Cup 2026, you’ve seen exactly what that looks like.

On Granville Street, thousands of people from every neighbourhood, culture, age group, and walk of life have gathered. Strangers celebrated together, restaurants and patios overflowed, and the streets felt alive with energy and possibility.

For a few extraordinary weeks, we’ve experienced Vancouver as the world-class city we know it can be, reminiscent of the pride, energy, and sense of possibility that accompanied the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games and the Expo ’86 World’s Fair.

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Yes, the emotional scale of the World Cup is difficult to replicate, and the easy conclusion to draw is that this was simply the magic of the tournament. But that would be a tremendous mistake.

The success of the past month was not driven solely by the matches themselves. It was driven by deliberate decisions about place-making. Streets were activated. Public spaces were programmed. Businesses, governments, community organizations, and cultural groups worked toward a common goal. The city created an environment where people felt invited to stay, explore, celebrate, and connect.

While the energy was infectious across the region, the change was most evident on Granville Street. The Granville Street Pedestrian Zone transformed the street into a gathering place and a fully-fledged entertainment district. It became a natural focal point for celebration, connection, and shared experiences. The City of Vancouver’s decision to extend the pedestrian zone through September is an important step, and we applaud that decision. In our view, it should be seen as the beginning of a longer-term commitment, not the conclusion.

fifa world cup 2026 granville street pedestrian zone vancouver

Granville Street Pedestrian Zone during FIFA World Cup 2026. (Matt Taylor/Downtown Van)

Public support for these changes is already evident. A Research Co. poll found that nearly two-thirds of Metro Vancouver residents, and almost seven in ten City of Vancouver residents, would like to see the Granville pedestrian zone continue after the World Cup.

The tournament provided a real-world test of ideas that city builders, business leaders, and urban planners have discussed for years. It also reinforced two fundamental truths: successful placemaking depends on people feeling safe and comfortable, and visitors who come to Vancouver love it.

Economic vitality, public confidence, cleanliness, and safety are inseparable, and the positive atmosphere we witnessed was the result of deliberate investments in public space management, coordination, and maintenance. If we want to sustain the energy of the past month, we must sustain the conditions that made it possible.

We need to accelerate the implementation of the Granville Street Plan. That means reducing barriers that limit business activity, enabling greater flexibility in the use of public space, supporting cultural programming, and creating the conditions necessary for private investment to flourish.

Transforming the strip into a flourishing entertainment district also requires addressing complex social challenges in ways that support both vulnerable populations and the long- term vitality of the urban core. That means making the permanent decision not to proceed with the proposed overdose prevention site (OPS) at 900 Helmcken St. and ensuring that the provincial and municipal governments expedite their commitment to relocating three Single Room Occupancy (SRO) hotels away from the entertainment district.

Granville Street Pedestrian Zone during FIFA World Cup 2026. (Matt Taylor/Downtown Van)

But the opportunity ahead is far bigger than Granville Street, and it extends well beyond the borders of temporary fan zones. Major international events are effectively global auditions.

Every visitor who came to Vancouver formed an impression of our city, and every broadcast image and social media post helped shape our global reputation. Science World’s iconic transformation is in many ways the defining symbol of the tournament. In tourism, reputation creates direct economic demand, and we are now positioned to convert this massive burst of global inspiration into a long-term commercial opportunity.

If done right, we can capitalize on the heightened attention on our region to grow the value of Vancouver’s visitor economy from $9 billion to $11 billion over the next few years. We are already seeing some signs of this momentum. Vancouver Convention Centre has immediately returned to hosting major citywide conferences, anchoring a business events pipeline that is tracking well above the typical pace.

In fact, Vancouver’s already strong global profile was further enhanced by our stand-out performance as a Host City, which will continue to fuel long-term demand. Next year is already on track to become the busiest on record for citywide conferences in Vancouver, shattering the previous record set in 2018 by close to 20 per cent. When people have positive experiences, they return, invest, and recommend our city to others.

The Beautiful Game reminded us that if we invest in our city, if we work to keep it safe, it can be a gathering place, a larger part of our economic future, and a source of pride. The question before us all is whether we allow the feelings of possibility that defined this World Cup to become a fond memory of a brief moment when we got it right — like the 2010 Olympics before it — or whether we use them as a foundation for what comes next.

Granville Street Pedestrian Zone during FIFA World Cup 2026. (Matt Taylor/Downtown Van)

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