Dunno if I'm gonna have a proper proposal but til now, I think all the info I'm proposing is in here and the previous post
False Creek is a large geographical feature of downtown Vancouver. Three bridges span the inlet's ~3km length, the Burrard, Granville and Cambie bridges, in order from West to East. The largest by a significant margin is the Granville Street bridge, with three lanes in either direction and multiple turnoffs and cloverleaves at each end. The Burrard bridge is the most attractive, with sculpted yellow pillars with gatehouses and scaffold construction. The Cambie bridge is the most modern, short but broad, with 3 lanes of traffic in either direction and a wide pedestrian/bicycle lane on the east side. The Cambie is the only bridge of the three to allow access for pedestrians without going around to the car entrance, in the form of stairs going straight up from the seawall on either side.
The seawall is a long pedestrian/bicycle path circumventing False Creek and continuing north and south at the edges around downtown and Kitsilano, respectively. The path is twisty and windy, with multiple neighbourhoods and distinct areas along it. Access from one area to another is often extremely limited, requiring in most places that one takes a lengthy detour over a bridge, around the creek or an expensive ferry ride between. The mixed public spaces, mostly intended for tourists and recreational activities, was developed in response to the 1986 Expo. There are residential, green and commercial areas along False Creek, sometimes ranging quite far (relatively) from vehicle access.
One of False Creek's most prominent features is Granville Island, an artificial peninsula. It is one of very few remaining indications that the area was once purely industrial, with railyards and shipping centres along it's shores. Other lingering remnants are limited to a couple of ruined piers and select underdeveloped spaces that are rapidly disappearing. Another distinguishing feature is Science World at the eastern end, a huge orb housing an Imax theatre and visible from much of central Vancouver.
The space is relevant to the proposed project as it is perhaps the largest and most diverse area in the city not designed for car use. This allows the space to be utilized as an imagined pre-industrial setting. It's size is appropriate to a medieval sized city or town, when distances were larger and limited to the range of foot travel. Each of the distinct areas within False Creek could be easily adapted to a fictional medieval map, as the only areas that come to mind as being distinctly modern are the public parks. Of course, public parks can simply be imagined as non developed wilderness or farmland. The bridges, while impressive feats of modern engineering, could be easily re-imagined as much more rudimentary, obviously not requiring such height or width without automobile traffic. Much of the trade existent in the area is quaint, due to it's increased tourist appeal. Many of these industries, while currently somewhat antiquated, would have been the best they could have done in the days before steam power. Science World itself is probably going to turn into a wizard's tower, castle or fortress. Basically, False Creek could be used as a fantasy campaign setting without much or any modification of scale.
Though home to many of Vancouver's famous glass towers, each of these areas is privatized, and so isn't really part of the strictly public space that False Creek represents. In the proposed fantasy setting these could be reduced to more appropriate rudimentary dwellings, or considered outside the campaign setting and ignored.
Historical aspects of False Creek could be reintroduced in the campaign setting, to increase the variety and enhance the background. For example, ports and production centres no longer present could be part of the space once again.
The spaces used for campaigns within the D20 system are little more than gridded maps, with the players imagining the atmosphere and function. Thus a decontextualized map of False Creek is likely to translate well, facilitating reinterpretations of the space in addition to it's convenient size.
Comparing present-day False Creek with a fantastical imagined setting creates an ironic dichotomy. Right now, it is undeniably beautiful but highly artificial, having reintroduced natural elements to a previously utilitarian industrial space. In a medieval fantasy setting, this timeline would be reversed, the undeveloped creek being slowly taken over by the growing city of humans (and other races) migrating there.
