Creating a better future
for urban Neighbourhoods
It's a hard journey toward healthy neighbourhoods.
We provide the tools for the job.
Over the past 3 or 4 decades urban planners have learned to value walkable and diverse neighbourhoods, and have tried to move toward this vision. But in spite of much concerted effort, there have been no significant changes to patterns of development for infill housing. Our neighbourhoods still have huge ecological footprints, they do not meet diverse housing need, and they facilitate unhealthy and car-dependent lifestyles for increasingly lonely people.
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City Planners have not had the tools they need to turn this story around. It's time to start a new chapter, with a full tool kit.
Understand the forces that generate existing Neighbourhood Infill Patterns and find out why cities' well intentioned plans have failed. Reverse engineer your zoning for success. Simulate the cumulative impacts of change in the complex contexts of your City's neighbourhoods. Engage stakeholders as you make balanced decisions.
Neighbourhood Infill is no longer a mystery.
Take hold of the tools to understand, predict and shape patterns of change in existing neighbourhoods.
Predictive Development Analysis
We analyze and document existing infill patterns, then assist in choosing new patterns to meet targets and Official Plan objectives.
Simulation and Geospatial Modeling
We simulate proposed regulatory changes, to allow for informed decision making and balanced outcomes.
Zoning Innovation
We colaboratively invent and test new zoning ideas and provide tools for meaningful consultation.
Predictive Development
Analysis
We analyze and document existing infill patterns, then assist in choosing new patterns to meet targets and Official Plan objectives.
We provide analyses of existing and proposed patterns of infill housing in established low-rise neighbourhoods. Analyses include careful consideration of all the forces that inform infill development, such as: existing neighbourhood conditions, existing and proposed zoning, fees and development application processes, building code requirements, real-estate pressures, transportation opportunities and/or limitations, construction economies (material and labour costs), and recent or planned municipal upgrades. Other relevant forces may come to bare and would also be carefully documented. Reports include a variety of maps, photo documentation, 3D concept modeling and infographics.
Simulation and Geospatial Modeling
We simulate proposed regulatory changes, to allow for informed decision making and balanced outcomes.
We simulate and test future regulatory scenarios by combining Agent Based Predictive Analysis with Geospatial Data Manipulation. Data is managed within a robust GIS environment that we share with our clients, or within our client's existing GIS infrastructure.
Simulations test scenarios and model rates of redevelopment, density increases, diversity of housing, tree canopy, and household emissions (based on modes of transport and/or shared walls and floors). Simulated results are mapped and streetscape views are 3D modeled.
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Municipal upgrades and investments to support Infill Housing can be planned based on simulated scenarios, which can be refined to take servicing availability into account.
Zoning
Innovation
We provide clear data supported guidance for zoning changes in existing neighbourhoods. We assist municipalities in working with housing providers and residents, and meeting Official Plan targets. We demonstrate the of power and agility of new zoning approaches. We test Form Based and an Inside-The-Box Zoning in context specific terms using 3D streetscape modeling.
We colaboratively invent and test new zoning ideas and provide tools for meaningful consultation.
In simple
terms...
We analyze and understand neighbourhoods as they evolve. We simulate proposed new regulations and investments in neighbourhoods, and find out if they will yield results that meet municipal targets for housing, tree canopy, emissions, diversity and much more. We assist city planning staff in designing zoning to produce desired infill housing and beneficial neighbourhood change.
We provide tools to envision and plan neighbourhood evolution with clarity.
