Making A Better Parking Lot

7 November 2007 - 6:00am

The city of Toronto has approved design guidelines for future development of parking lots within the city. The guidelines call for more trees and better drainage, but as of now are not included in any mandatory city policies.

"A new set of city guidelines aims to improve environmental standards in all future private and municipal parking lots, with more trees, clear walkways and better drainage."

"The design guidelines, which were agreed on yesterday, would help officials determine which construction plans are worthy of being approved."

"They won't be applied retroactively to existing parking but are meant to 'encourage' the owners to implement the standards when upgrading their lots."

"None of the improvements is mandatory, but some may be integrated into city policies as the project evolves, said Robert J. Freedman, director of urban design for the city planning department."

Source: The Toronto Star, November 2, 2007
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Planners, architects, artists, and other community members can make the exploratory walk a key tool in re-making places, stemming from the emotions and atmospheres perceived by people who live there or visit them, and plan outward from the experiential, toward trajectories, shapes, and physical structures.