Designing Liveable Communities
Like no other development plan in North America, Southlands provides park and protected forest land (over 130 acres), community farms (over 300 acres) and a well designed, pedestrian friendly neighbourhood – enough to supply the community for 20 years of modest growth.
However, beyond Southlands, there are a number of fundamental principles that lead to the creation and development of more liveable communities authored by the American Institute of Architects, based in Washington, DC.
Design on a Human Scale
Compact, pedestrian-friendly communities allow residents to walk to shops, services, cultural resources, and jobs and can reduce traffic congestion and benefit people’s health.
Provide Choices
People want variety in housing, shopping, recreation, transportation, and employment. Variety creates lively neighbourhoods and accommodates residents in different stages of their lives.
Encourage Mixed-Use Development
Integrating different land uses and varied building types creates vibrant, pedestrian-friendly, diverse communities.
Preserve Urban Centres
Restoring, revitalizing, and infilling urban centres take advantage of existing streets, services, and buildings and avoid the need for new infrastructure. This helps to curb sprawl and promote stability for city neighbourhoods.
Vary Transportation Options
Giving people the option of walking, biking, and using public transit, in addition to driving, reduces traffic congestion, protects the environment, and encourages physical activity.
Build Vibrant Public Spaces
Citizens need welcoming, well-defined public places to stimulate face-to-face interaction, collectively celebrate and mourn, encourage civic participation, admire public art, and gather for public events.
Create a Neighbourhood Identity
A “sense of place” gives neighbourhoods a unique character, enhances the walking environment, and creates pride in the community.
Protect Environmental Resources
A well-designed balance of nature and development preserves natural systems, protects waterways from pollution, reduces air pollution, and protects property values.
Conserve Landscapes
Open space, farms, and wildlife habitat are essential for environmental, recreational, and cultural reasons.
Design Matters
Design excellence is the foundation of successful and healthy communities.
A Diverse Team
A Diverse Team
The Charrette was led by Andrés Duany, a founder of the Congress for the New Urbanism and one of the premiere town planners internationally. The Team also included West Vancouver architect Richard Hulbert and Chicago architect Doug Farr among a team of over twenty architects, designers, engineers and other specialists. This included Michael Ableman, an organic farmer and author from Salt Spring Island, who helped us with our vision for a sustainable community farm.