She builds communities and leads field trips for city planners and developers to help revitalize Edmonton’s Chinatown
Age: 32
Christine Lee remembers how vibrant Edmonton’s Chinatown once was. The child of immigrants who frequented Chinatown’s shops and restaurants, Lee is taking action to reimagine and renew the district.
As a Qualico project manager with the Qualico Communities unit, she is using her urban planning education to help bring people back to Chinatown.
In 2024, Lee hosted the first annual field trip — the Chinatown Food and Walking Tour — for registered professional planners, consulting firms, City of Edmonton staff and others to see Chinatown’s challenges and progress first-hand. The tours include Qualico’s Station Lands neighbourhood, built on the former CN railyard north of EPCOR tower. Lee says that new apartments being built there will serve as a bridge into Chinatown.
Once in Chinatown, the tour visits shops and restaurants to speak with business owners about their challenges and needs.The area faces serious social and economic strife, but there has been progress in the three years Lee has led the walks. The Station Lands development is humming along and the city completely overhauled 98 Street.
The area made history in August by hosting the inaugural Chinatown Classic nine-man volleyball tournament. Athletes from across the country travelled to Edmonton to play on the new 98th Street volleyball court. (The only other nine-man court of its kind is in New York.) “Teams weren’t just visiting Chinatown, they were playing games in the streets there,” Lee says.
She cites restaurants like Boa & Hare and Van Loc as businesses bringing in more foot traffic and catering to events outside Chinatown. It may take years, but Lee is determined to breathe new life into the area. “Our grandparents and parents put blood, sweat and tears into Chinatown,” Lee says. “I want to bring it back.”
This article appears in the November-December 2026 issue of Edify
