The fast growing suburb of Vaughan, on the edge of Toronto, intends to build a true downtown around a future transit station that will link it by subway to Toronto and to points east and west by bus rapid transit.Urban Strategies prepared the official plan for the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre, a designated “urban growth centre”, following an analysis of land use, environmental and transportation conditions and consultations with landowners and the broader public.
Occupied by low-density retail and industrial uses but also vacant lands, the VMC is expected to intensify significantly over the coming decades, accommodating 25,000 residents and 12,000 jobs by 2031. The Secondary Plan provides a framework of pedestrian-oriented streets and parks and built form parameters to guide future development and public realm investments. The plan calls for a new major civic park, a series of local parks and environmental open spaces, new neighbourhoods containing a mix of housing types and building heights, and both high density and medium density office buildings oriented to transit. The intent is to create a green downtown that utilizes district energy and demonstrates best practices in environmental design.
