大象传媒

by Sharon Mah

This fall, Faculty of Health Sciences PhD candidate Meridith Sones will walk across the stage at Convocation, completing a storied journey that has seen her investigate how neighbourhood design and inequitable distribution of social infrastructure have influenced the health outcomes and experiences of residents in Vancouver and cities across Canada.

Sones began her PhD degree working as a co-investigator and manager of knowledge mobilization on the INTerventions, Equity, Research, and Action in Cities Team (INTERACT). This pan-Canadian project is co-led by her supervisor FHS professor Meghan Winters, and partners with cities to generate evidence to guide the design of healthier and more equitable communities. Sones arrived at the focus of her doctoral research when INTERACT鈥檚 city partners identified the need for evidence linking neighbourhood design to social connection and equity for residents.

鈥淭here were three main things I was aiming to deliver,鈥� Sones recalls. 鈥淭he first was to bring some clarity to the meaning of socially connected cities鈥攖o give planners, policymakers and also researchers a common language for defining and measuring it. Second, I wanted to help pinpoint which aspects of the built environment really make a difference when it comes to fostering connection and reducing isolation and loneliness among residents, so cities can make more informed decisions. And third was about equity and better understanding the social infrastructure needs of groups often overlooked in citybuilding, like youth.鈥�

Sones delivered strongly on all three of these aims, not only through her work with INTERACT, but also through an additional initiative that she started: Youth.hood, a community-engaged research project exploring how neighbourhood design shapes social connectedness for racialized youth. The project grew out of an earlier study between 大象传媒 Urban Studies, 大象传媒 Health Sciences, and the South Vancouver Neighbourhood House (SVNH), which uncovered major inequities in social infrastructure funding in South Vancouver neighbourhoods compared to the rest of the city. Sones partnered with SVNH and local youth to amplify their lived experiences and provide a mechanism for them to be change agents by designing and voicing their own solutions for neighbourhood improvement.

鈥淭he project helped the community gather their own evidence and stories to use in their ongoing advocacy, but we learned afterward that it had a positive impact on the youth involved too, which was an unexpected win.鈥� In fact, two Youth.hood Ambassadors formally presented their research findings and calls to action to Vancouver City Council, a moment that Sones said filled her with pride. Her work with Youth.hood made a difference on a professional level as well, when Sones was recognized with a 2024 大象传媒 Community-engaged Graduate Scholar Award.

It wasn鈥檛 just city priorities or a desire for social justice that drew Sones to this work. During the Covid pandemic lockdown in 2020, she and her young family were living in a small townhouse with no outdoor space, facing the pressures of both parents suddenly and unexpectedly working from home with no child care for an extended period of time.

鈥淏asically the neighbourhood became our living room. Parks were a lifeline to us during this time鈥攚e were very fortunate to live in a neighbourhood that was walkable and bikeable, where public spaces are abundant,鈥� she reflected. 鈥淸The experience] would have been infinitely harder if we lived in a place where public space was less accessible.鈥� Sones carried that experience into her PhD noting: 鈥淚t motivated me to look more deeply at built environment inequities and the needs and experience of children and youth when it comes to building healthier cities. Experiencing a city through kids鈥� eyes can be pretty enlightening in terms of things like safety, accessibility, inclusion, and playfulness鈥�the finer details of a place that we as adults tend to overlook.鈥�

Now that she has completed her degree, Sones hopes to continue pursuing applied research and knowledge mobilization related to healthy and equitable communities, either within academia or government. 鈥淚鈥檓 also excited to have a little more time for civic advocacy in my own backyard (in North Vancouver), especially around better bike infrastructure鈥� she says. But in the immediate future, she鈥檚 most looking forward to outdoor adventures with her kids, reading for fun, and perhaps catching up on sleep.

The Faculty of Health Sciences Convocation ceremony will take place Friday, Oct 10, 2025 at 9:45 am.