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Canadian Urbanism Uncovered

Spacing Saturday

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Spacing Saturday highlights posts from across Spacing’s blog network in Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and the Atlantic region.


As the Place des festivales nears completion, Montrealers are getting a look at one of the most striking new public spaces in Canada. Spacing’s Allanah Heffez reviews the new space bringing up both good and bad about the realized version of the square.

Setting the stage for future investments in public space, the council of the Plateau neighbourhood recently announced interesting plans to expand a park in an area lacking in green space by closing off a street that runs beside it. The street has already been closed to car traffic and will be use the space to establish a farmer’s market.

Steve Bedard promotes the Halifax Open Street Party, happening this weekend in the city’s North Commons. The event is hosted by the Halifax Cycling Coalition and The Bike Week Planning Council.

David McClelland ponders the future of the Ottawa LRT by talking about the importance of engaging station design. In light of what he calls Ottawa’s history of shying away from bold civic architecture, McClelland hopes that the architectural opportunities of the LRT project will not be squandered.

In his weekly column, John Lorinc finds some cause for optimism about the future of Transit City despite cries from the Mayor’s Office that the province will not carry through with the plan. Lorinc examines the Mayor’s claim that the Eglington line will run from Leaside to Forest Hill and contrasts it against the recent actions of Metrolinx and his forecast for the Province’s political future.

In a call to action Hillary Best advocates the idea of ‘Complete Streets’ as was discussed during a recent conference held by the Toronto Coalition for Active Transportation. Best shows that the more we understand the idea of complete streets, the more apparent becomes their necessity to the future vitality of the region.

Photo by Marcus Bowman

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