CALGARY CENTRE CITY PLAN

As Calgary’s Manager of Centre City Planning + Design, Brent Toderian reorganized the formerly disconnected downtown work program, into the Centre City “Family of Plans” (a term and scale of planning he conceived). Until then, downtown planning was broken into area + issue specific plans and guidelines, a literal “stack of plans and policies”, and the Downtown, Mid-town and Beltline areas had never been planned as a coherent whole.

As initial project manager for the new Centre City Plan, Brent took an unusually holistic, multi-disciplinary and comprehensive approach. Under the three themes of the “Livable, Thriving and Caring Centre City,” Brent envisioned a plan that would be visionary, bold and ultimately action-oriented, measurable and monitored.

The ‘Family’ guided by the Centre City Plan would ultimately include the East Village and Beltline Area Redevelopment Plans, the Mid-Town and 17th Avenue Urban Design Strategies, and the more detailed Centre City Social, Transportation, and Open Space Plans. All plans were coordinated and communicated by Brent in a legible and coherent way.

The Centre City Plan would prove to be highly effective and transformative, with significant profile and buy-in across the community. Furthermore, it included an effective monitoring system through report-cards and regular Centre City Symposiums. The Plan received numerous awards, including the Canadian Institute of Planners Award of Planning Excellence, the AACIP Award of Planning Excellence, and a Mayors Urban Design Award.