?People are excited about the future of design and city building in Edmonton?they?re all in for architecture,? says Kalen Anderson.
As Director of Edmonton?s new City Plan, Anderson and her team have been working for the last two years to harness the energy and enthusiasm for, among other things, good design in Edmonton.
Edmonton has been undergoing a transformation in the last decade in the design of the public realm and public institutions. No longer is the city satisfied with allowing a haphazard approach to architecture and design, which reached such levels of mediocrity in the early 2000s that it prompted one former mayor to declare, ?Our tolerance for crap is now zero.?
That impetus has continued through all levels of local government: this article is co-authored by a City of Edmonton councillor who trained in fine arts, and an architecture-trained senior planner for the City. Both of us believe in the value of good design, and are seeing constituents respond with enthusiasm to Edmonton?s architectural initiatives. Studio North, Gravity Architecture and Part & Parcel have won a competition to construct missing middle housing in Edmonton.
?Edmontonians from all walks of life are advocating for improved public and private spaces,? explains Anderson. ?Our City is showing its ambition and creativity in redeveloping its plans, from the City Plan to the Zoning Bylaw Review, to better understand the choices that need to be made to make Edmonton a healthy, attractive, ur...