Quayside, Sidewalk Labs' smart city in Toronto, calls for ten tall buildings made entirely of wood. Here's why proponents think mass timber is a good idea, and what obstacles stand in its way.

"In most U.S. cities, mass timber buildings, and specifically tall mass timber buildings, are a rarity, if they exist at all," Kira Barrett writes. But Sidewalk Labs' ambitious plan for a Toronto smart city called Quayside includes plans for ten of them. Barrett discusses the nature of the building material, which often consists of cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels, and its pros and cons.
To begin with the positives, proponents cite mass timber's capacity for carbon sequestration: one advocacy organization argues that a site with no building at all has a higher carbon footprint than one with a CLT structure. Mass timber buildings also weigh less than concrete and steel, reducing risk during seismic events.
But several factors hold mass timber back, the most obvious being the perception that wooden buildings are more prone to fire damage (even though engineered wood such as CLT mitigates some of that risk). There's also the question of access to timber for cities far from forests, the need to build out CLT production facilities, and a general lack of familiarity with the material on the part of architects and designers.
Its novelty means mass timber isn't included in the International Building Code, meaning that "construction with this material currently involves years of research, development and testing to make special state and city exceptions, on top of the already intensive construction process."
FULL STORY: Sidewalk Labs is building a smart city entirely of mass timber. What could go wrong?

New York Governor Advances Housing Plan Amid Stiff Suburban Opposition
Governor Kathy Hochul’s ambitious proposal to create more housing has once again run into a brick wall of opposition in New York’s enormous suburbs, especially on Long Island. This year, however, the wall may have some cracks.

Rethinking the Role of Parking in the American City
In cities big and small, the tide is turning against sprawling parking lots, car-centric development, and minimum parking mandates.

Friday Eye Candy: 20 AI-Generated Cityscapes
AI-generated images are creating new landscapes and cityscapes, capable of inspiring awe or fear.

A Dallas Architect Designs Statement Buildings With a Purpose
The Dallas Morning News’ architecture critic profiles one of the city’s most important current architects.

Biden Designates a New National Monument in West Texas
The Castner Range National Monument in West Texas is the second of two new national monuments announced by President Joe Biden this week.

Study: Autonomous Cars Won’t Solve the Parking Problem
In hyper-dense cities where incentives to reduce car use and eliminate parking are already high, mass adoption of AVs won’t significantly reduce parking demand.
Princeton Planning
City of College Park
Houston-Galveston Area Council
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Spearfish
City of Lomita
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.