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"Play," the yearly School of Planning conference takes place March 18 and 19.

鈥淵ou don鈥檛 stop playing because you grow up; you grow up because you stop playing.鈥�

That quote, from a Parkour video, stuck with planning student Stephanie Chai as she and her classmates put together the final touches on this year鈥檚 School of Planning conference, taking place this Thursday and Friday. Its theme: 鈥淧lay.鈥�

鈥淭he idea that inspired the theme is that a city to play in is a city to stay in,鈥� she explains, saying that 鈥減lay鈥� from a planning perspective can encompass everything from green space and playgrounds to bars and clubs.听 鈥淗ow can we bring fun into the urban experience so that people are inspired to stay?鈥�

The conference, which has been running for over 20 years now, is a free community event organized by students in the Masters of Planning program as part of their coursework. Its purpose is to bring together planning students, faculty, professionals, community groups and interested citizens to discuss and debate current topics in planning in community design.

The keynote presentation, taking place Thursday morning, will be made by Michael Gordon, senior Central Area planner for the City of Vancouver who oversees planning for the downtown peninsula 鈥� and who skateboards to work daily. His speech is titled 鈥淟et鈥檚 Plan: Imagining the Playful City.鈥�

Other sessions throughout the two days include discussions about recreation spaces, Parkour, community engagement and more. And on Friday, the winner of the second-annual Mayor鈥檚 Award for Excellent and Innovation in Planning will be announced.

For the students that plan the event, it鈥檚 an opportunity to work with the public and engage with the community within in their field of study. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a great chance to come to a better sense of the material we鈥檙e looking at in our courses,鈥� says Aida Salehiomran, another master鈥檚 student on the planning committee.