2-16 Visioning Exercises Visioning Exercises Guided visioning exercises have become popular in many fields as a way of defining and achieving a desirable future. Recent studies have shown that we are more likely to reach an objective if we can see it, and can imagine the steps to reach it. Visioning has become a familiar technique in sports. High-jumpers, for instance, regularly take the time to imagine themselves going through the steps of jumping higher than they have ever jumped before.
Citizens can use visioning to create images that can help to guide change in the city.
In a typical visioning exercise a facilitator asks participants to close their eyes and imagine they are walking through their neighbourhood as it should be fifteen years into the future. Sometimes a professional illustrator helps turn mental images into drawings of the city that people can extend and modify. CityPlan used visioning techniques to arrive at a number of alternative futures for the city. Vancouverites were then asked to vote for their favourite.