Using New Urbanism To Balance Profits, Social Resposibility

16 November 2001 - 12:00pm

By implementing New Urbanism concepts, a Canadian land developer aims to balance profits with sensible planning.

"The Canada Lands Company is a unique land developer, where profit gets equal billing to social responsibility and sensible planning...Unlike a private developer whose primary concern is the bottom line, Canada Lands is a government experiment, charged with both turning a profit for its shareholder (the federal government) and serving the social aspirations of the Canadian community...Canada Lands is already devoted to implementing the planning manifesto of new urbanism...There are now more than 250 new urban communities in the United States and 25 in Canada, where planners shrink lots, narrow streets and design houses with porches so there is a social aspect to the neighbourhood."

Source: The Ottawa Citizen, November 16, 2001
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Much like Victorian reformers of the 1890s, we find ourselves at a pivotal moment for urban reform. Rather than standardization, sanitation, and social order, cities are now looking to promote "livability" and "sustainability".