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