February 28, 2019 Ministry…

February 28, 2019

Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing
777 Bay Street
23rd Floor, Suite 2304 Toronto
ON M5G 2E5

RE: Proposed Amendment to the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe, 2017

Good Urban Design is Essential for the Business of City Building

The Council for Canadian Urbanism (CanU) strongly encourages the Ontario government to continue to advance the 'excellence in design' conversation as it continues with its efforts to improve and streamline the business end of the land use planning process in Ontario.

CanU is a national, not-for-profit information and advocacy group incorporated in 2009, founded by many of Canada’s leading urban experts from the fields of city planning, urban design, architecture, landscape architecture, transportation, community development and related disciplines.

CanU is adding our voice to the many organizations, leaders and citizens who strongly encourage the Province to support and promote excellence in design as an integral component of its 'open for business' approach in the development of land, the creation of communities and the management of growth. Good design is good for business and leaves a lasting legacy.

CanU supports the development of Provincial land use policy where matters of good urban design are integrated; not removed or diluted in the name of progress, expediency and economic competitiveness. We repudiate the notion that good urban design and sustainability practices in the GTAH have somehow resulted in housing, including affordable housing, supply shortages. The conversation regarding excellence in design needs to be advanced, rather than curtailed.

We believe that in an increasingly competitive global environment — where towns, cities and entire regions compete to attract and retain residents, workers and visitors — the practice of good urban design is a key factor in maintaining a competitive edge. Economically responsible growth is part of good urban design.

Urban design complements land use planning and provides opportunities to give tangible definition and identity to our urban communities and spaces around them. The best designed communities position themselves to attract and retain residents, businesses and tourists.

The practice of good urban design is critical for the business of building cities because:
1. The collection and integration of buildings, parks and roads, that form our communities, are designed to best serve current and future generations.
2. It brings together the private and public realms that form part of the built environment – resulting in places that carry a strong civic identity and economic vitality; and
3. It helps to manage and prioritize investment opportunities and built-form decisions that are contextually appropriate, sustainable, resilient and long lasting.

The practice of urban design, to include matters of contextual fit and character, helps build consensus, works within its physical context, is financially sound, and does not detract or slow down the development approval process.

Abandoning or diluting the notion of good urban design within our current development review process will reverse many of the improvements introduced to the land use planning process over the last two decades. It will hurt place-making in our communities as well as the competitiveness of the development industry within the local and global economy.

Yours respectfully,

Council for Canadian Urbanism