CALGARY’S NEW WAVE OF MASTER-PLANNED COMMUNITIES SHOWCASE HOW REDEVELOPMENT IN ESTABLISHED AREAS CAN OFFER A MODEL FOR THOUGHTFUL CITY BUILDING. BY XIMENA GONZÁLEZ
live, go to school, recreate and shop.” Until relatively recently, master planning in Calgary was an approach used only in suburban communities on the city’s outskirts, where urban planners and developers have a blank slate to showcase the design trends of the day. But master planning communities within established areas presents an opportunity to create walkable neighbourhoods with ready access to existing services and amenities inside the existing city footprint. In the mid-’90s and beyond, comprehensive plans drove the creation of smarter, denser suburban
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neighbourhoods such as McKenzie structure in established areas. Towne and West Springs, both of which “Redevelopment offers the opportunity to add thousands of people and incorporate New Urbanism principles housing choices in areas where the that prioritize housing density, walkability and a mix of uses and activities. infrastructure already exists,” Goldstein But they didn’t address urban sprawl. says. “The opportunity for master planning in established areas is to ensure With new communities on the edges that the community is part of [creating] of the city, not only do homeowners a vision.” potentially need to commute more Redevelopment in established areas often and for longer, but the whole remains largely piecemeal — mostly city needs to pay for extending power because large swaths of and sewer lines as well as inner-city land don’t come longer routes for everything up for sale often. And, including snow plows, REDEVELOPMENT without a strong vision, garbage pickup, transit and OFFERS OPPORTUNITIES piecemeal redevelopment more. TO ADD HOUSING IN can overwhelm existing in“We need to flip our frastructure, from roads and urban policies and ecoAREAS WHERE nomic models to incentivsewage to garbage collecINFRASTRUCTURE ize sustainable cities that tion, and trigger community ALREADY EXISTS. contribute to more healthy, opposition. sustainable lifestyles and Not long ago, City Council turned down a proposal benefit the community,” to revitalize Glenmore Landing, an aging Gómez-Palacio says. “There’s a huge southwest shopping complex located catch-up for us, the policies of the ’50s, next to a new bus rapid transit (BRT) ’60s and ’70s need to be updated to get hub, and create at least 1,800 apartus there.” ments. Similarly, plans to transform the Calgary is working to catch up. Over site of a decommissioned high school the past couple of decades, there have into a residential hub in the southbeen increased opportunities to create west community of Richmond Knob new master-planned communities Hill came to a halt after neighbours inside of city limits. Teresa Goldstein, launched a lawsuit against The City for chief planner and director of community planning at The City of Calgary, approving the construction of more than says the municipal government is 1,000 homes on the 11.5-acre parcel. consistently modernizing its planning In cases where master-planned communities have moved forward, they policies to ensure they aren’t obstacles offer a chance to accommodate growth to redevelopment. Since 2014, The City and change in established areas. Here’s has rolled out a number of initiatives — a look at five neighbourhoods that including the Main Streets Program and demonstrate the advantages of master Local Area Plans — to guide incremental redevelopment while revitalizing planning new communities inside the existing amenities, services and infracity’s borders.
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