December 19, 2006

APA Recognizes Ontario's Greater Golden Horseshoe Plan

WASHINGTON, DC — The American Planning Association (APA) has selected the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe — the mega-region surrounding Toronto, Ontario, Canada — as one of two recipients of APA's 2007 Daniel Burnham Award for a Comprehensive Plan. It is the first time a Canadian region has been selected for this prestigious award, named in honor of America's most famous planner, Daniel Burnham, who developed the renowned 1909 Burnham Plan for the City of Chicago.

"This plan is a landmark comprehensive plan that is both visionary and pragmatic," said Carol Rhea, AICP, chair of the 2007 APA Awards Committee. "It provides a strategic, innovative and coordinated approach to sustainable growth and development for 110 different municipalities," she added, noting that the backbone of the plan is how it integrates land-use planning for the greater Toronto metropolitan region with $7.5 billion (U.S.) in new infrastructure investment.

The Honorable David Caplan, Ontario's Minister for Public Infrastructure Renewal and the provincial government minister responsible for the Places to Grow initiative, will accept the award at APA's National Planning Conference during a luncheon ceremony on April 17, 2007, in Philadelphia. Caplan led the five-year effort to develop the broad-reaching plan aimed at managing growth, curbing sprawl, and fostering prosperity. In addition, a 30-minute video about the Golden Horseshoe plan and 13 other APA 2007 National Planning Excellence, Achievement, and Leadership Awardees will be shown at the luncheon. Accomplishments of the awardees also will be highlighted in the April 2007 issue of Planning magazine and on the APA website.

Work on the Greater Golden Horseshoe plan began in 2001 and involved a number of Ontario's leading planning consultants who, among other things, modeled alternative growth scenarios, created tracking methodology to measure density benchmarks, and produced 30-year population and employment forecasts.

This innovative plan is built on a number of core elements including policies for developing complete, vibrant communities; establishment of a 1.8 million-acre greenbelt protected from urbanization; legislation that requires municipalities within the Golden Horseshoe region to conform to the plan's policies; and an ongoing commitment to community participation in the development and implementation of the plan. The policies include an emphasis on revitalizing mixed-use, transit-friendly downtowns across the region, ensuring that 40 percent of new residential development is located as infill in existing communities, and establishing minimum density levels for new suburban development.

"This is a landmark plan for the Province of Ontario," said David Caplan. "Five years ago stakeholders were divided about how to respond to growth. Today, an unprecedented consensus has emerged behind the idea that our region will be more successful and prosperous by following a set of smart planning principles."

"The Greater Golden Horseshoe plan puts Ontario on the map as an international leader in sustainable community development," said Toronto Mayor David Miller, whose city lies at the heart of the Greater Golden Horseshoe. "As the region grows, the need to control sprawl will become increasingly important."

Contacts

Denny Johnson, APA Public Affairs, 202-349-1006; djohnson@planning.org