#DENSITYDONEWELL IN A KINGSTON BY DESIGN! - @BRENTTODERIAN @TODURBANWORKS - CITY OF KINGSTON

#DensityDoneWell in a
Kingston By Design!

 @BrentToderian
 @TODUrbanWorks

What would it really take to
be the most sustainable city
in Canada?

A Convergence of Issues, with great city-building
as an answer!
Climate Change

 Public Health

 Housing Affordability

 Unpredictable Energy
 Costs

 Aging/Changing
 Population

 Civic Identity

Cities & suburbs are
changing, not
because of ideology,
but because of
better math.

Seniors, Couples, Singles, and
Lots of Families choosing urban living!

At some point in this talk, most
of you will be thinking the 8 most
unhelpful words in the english
language…

“We could never do that
in our city!”

Vision, will, skill, &
follow-thru!

The truth about a city’s
aspirations isn’t found in its
vision.
It’s found in its budget.

The evolution toward smart planning:
1) doing the wrong thing.
2) doing the wrong thing "better.”
3) trying to have your cake & eat it too.
4) doing the right thing.

   Where is your city today?

Progress doesn’t just
depend on starting the
right things. It depends on
stopping the wrong things
& fixing the mistakes.

A successful City by Design!   Most Livable
                               Most Healthy
                               Most Reputable
                               Most Visitable

                               Top Green City
                               Top Innovation City
                               Top Walking City
                               Top Transit City
                               Top Biking City
                               Top Coffee City
                               Top Beach City

                               A Economically
                               Successful City!

Great Design Creates Value.
• Private sector profit, competitiveness, product
  differentiation, company image/branding
• Public sector return on investment
• Spin-off private sector investment
• Platform for economic development
• Attracting & retaining talent & investment (& not just
  the “creatives”)
• Design tourism
• Proven dividends for public health costs, transport
  costs, quality of life & livability, & massive
  sustainability costs.

Beauty outperforms ugly.
(And it’s remarkable how
expensive ugly can be!)

THIS is Vancouver.

The success or failure of
our city-regions, &
ultimately our survival,
depends on how well we
do our suburbs.

Not all suburbia is sprawl,
but too much of it is.

The key problem of
sprawl is auto-
dependancy.

Not so much transit corridors, as corridors of urbanism…
(walking, biking, transit through “completeness”)

The magic of “density done well!”

 • Reduced energy use in
   buildings
 • Allows active transport,
   walk/bike/transit
 • More green design
   options
 • Less sprawl
 • More affordable housing
   choices
 • Improved public health
 • Vitality, diversity, safety

Density done well:
1. Land use and movement aligned

Building
bigger roads
makes traffic
worse.

The best
transportation plan is
a great land use plan!

Vancouver’s Movement Modes, Prioritized

#1
                                          #2

#3
                                           #4

 #5

If you design a city for cars, it
fails for everyone, INCLUDING
drivers.
If you design a multi-modal
city, it works better for
everyone, INCLUDING drivers.

Walking infrastructure:
horizontal AND vertical

Designing an artful mix at “eye-level”

Sticky
Streets
For
People!

New separated bike lanes are
key to higher bike share

Density done well:
2. Consistently high design quality

Height is just a design challenge…

Designing height AND human-scale!

Avoiding “Vertical Sprawl?”

Density done well:
3. Amenities and Diversity make density enjoyable!

Our parks, through development…

Our squares, through development…

Many more amenities and benefits like social
and rental housing, through development

Density Done Well at EVERY Scale!
(no “Scale-Dogma”)

More Mid-Rise Density

South East False Creek + the Olympic Village

A Variety of Building Types for Different Contexts

Gentle, Hidden & Invisible Density
    (NO “stable neighbourhoods”)

• Arterial mid-rise housing
• Ground oriented housing
  (gentle density)
• Backyard laneway infill
  housing (hidden density)
• Secondary suites within
  homes (invisible density)

Laneway Housing: A “Small” transformation?

2500+ already approved across the city!

Change
is never
easy.

Change
is never
easy.

It’s not how dense you
make it, but how you
make it dense.
- Jonathan Barnett

From NIMBY to QIMBY!

There are a lot of really simple ideas
out there that could strengthen our
cities, but it's remarkable how hard
we can make simple things.

Cities of Smiles!

Initial Observations
• #DensityDoneWell is a necessary element of becoming ‘the
  Most Sustainable City.” You must get better at it.
• Great city-building needs champions, & many voices!
• You need more density, but you also have a “big building
  problem.” That can be a big problem for density
  achievement.
• You’re likely underestimating how much will need to change
  to sufficiently improve the culture, system, tools etc to
  deliver successful densification. It will involve some things
  you currently don’t want to do, some things the devt
  industry won’t want you to do, and some things community
  activists won’t want you to do.
• You have good people. The opportunity is there for you.

Making it real
takes Vision,
Will, Skill &
Follow-Thru!

   TODERIAN UrbanWORKS
   brent@toderianurbanworks.com
   Twitter: @BrentToderian