Many fascinating and encouraging discussions took place at last week’s Innovation City.

The panel at The Innovation City at MaRS Discovery District, Toronto

The conference, which took place at Toronto’s MaRS Discovery District, brought together thought leaders from across North America and Europe to discuss how 21st century megacities are being shaped.

I had the pleasure of speaking on a panel, The Metropolitan Neighborhood: Urban centers and local economies, alongside Vancouver-based real estate marketer Bob Rennie, Mayor of Edmonton Stephen Mandel, and Gothenburg, Sweden’s Carl-Johan Korsas, former CEO of Framtiden Housing Corporation.

The panel at The Innovation City at MaRS Discovery District

I articulated Kirkor’s position on city planning – that Smart Growth nodes must be developed around transit, allowing people to live, work, shop and play in communities in close proximity to where they live, reducing the need to rely on cars. This must be coupled with green spaces, pedestrian-friendly design and planning strategies.

Hullmark Centre, Sheppard and Yonge, Toronto

One theme of our discussion was the concern that the charming and unique elements that we all love downtown – the small, independent shops, the uniqueness of downtown living – can’t be forcefully designed into these new developments. We feel that these special elements will take care of themselves, popping up once residents move in and create their own communities. The main thing is to provide sustainable environments for people who may not be able to afford living downtown, or may not wish to.

The panel at The Innovation City at MaRS Discovery District

For instance, some cultures may prefer to live closer to already existing immigrant communities. Toronto’s Persian community is centered around Yonge and Finch, which is far from ‘downtown’ Toronto but much closer to the soon-to-be-completed urban node at Yonge and Sheppard, where our project Hullmark Centre is presently under construction.

Single women and retired couples also may prefer the close proximity to services and access to transit that these new uptown, ‘downtowns’ can provide. Click here and here to read more of my thoughts on this in a recent interview with the Toronto Star.

-Cliff

We are delighted to announce that senior partner Clifford Korman will speak at The Innovation City, which takes place in Toronto on July 18 & 19, 2012. Cliff will speak as part of a panel titled ‘The Metropolitan Neighbourhood: Urban Centres and Local Economies’.

7171 Yonge Street, Markham

Joining Cliff on the panel will be Stephen Mandel, Mayor of the city of Edmonton; Vancouver’s Bob Rennie, president of Rennie Marketing Systems and Carl-Johan Korsas, former CEO of the Framtiden Housing Corporation in Goteberg, Sweden.

The panelists will discuss the new approaches to urban planning that are called for in the era of mega-cities, in which multiple downtowns are increasingly common. Cliff will focus on numerous examples of our large-scale, mixed-use, transit-focused developments at the nodes that are shaping urban centres around the GTA: Mississauga, Markham and Vaughan, among others.

They will also examine the building codes, land-use policies and other attributes that will promote livability, sustainability and economic growth in a 21st century metropolis.

7171 Yonge Street, Markham

The Innovation City is a partnership between former journalist Miro Cernetig and Marc Andrew, and the MaRS Discovery Centre, which brings together leaders who are creating solutions that will improve our urban centres.

JOIN US at this two-day conference, where speakers will examine issues including new ‘Catalyst Cities’; cities as hubs for public and private investment; how local economies can thrive in new urban centres; the impact of research and innovation on economies; why sustainability matters from a business perspective and the importance of culture to growing economies.

For more information on the agenda and speakers, and to register now, click here

- Cliff