The pond integrated into the green spine serves both as a stormwater management feature and to enhance the aesthetics. Client: Area One FarmsLocation: Dundas SouthScale: communitySize: 300 homesStatus: Master PlanProject Duration: 2025- The design goal is to deliver high-quality shared spaces and infrastructure cost-effectively, making every element — streets, green corridors, and stormwater systems — […] The post Subdivillage by the Lake appeared first on Smart Density.| Smart Density
Ontario Association of Architects SHIFT Award: Reshaping Communities The Vision Imagine visiting a new suburban development at the city’s edge. The homes are large and detached, and car ownership is a given. Yet, something feels different. Neighbours chat on their front patios. Children play safely in the street. Walking and cycling feel natural, even pleasant. […] The post The Subdivillage: A Remaking of the Subdivision appeared first on Smart Density.| Smart Density
Every foot of street width, every block layout, every lot mix decision adds up. Most subdivision developers lose 10–20% of potential yield—not because of market conditions, but because of design choices baked into their plans. Before the first line is drawn, your land already holds its potential. The difference between an average subdivision and a […]| Smart Density
Subdivision developers are under pressure to deliver yield, respond to market demand, and stand out. The Subdivillage offers a way to do all three—by using smarter land use and better design to deliver a competitive edge. 23Same Product, Better Layout We’re not asking you to change what sells: large, detached homes with backyards and parking. […]| Smart Density
High-rise, high-density neighbourhoods allow us to accommodate the density that our cities need in order to provide robust urban infrastructure, diverse services and thriving commercial centres and to support sustainable growth. Unfortunately, they rarely achieve the vibrant public realm and attractive urban environments found in our best old neighbourhoods. Prepared for: Korea Land & Housing […]| Smart Density
It’s a fair question. We’re urbanists. We live downtown. We raise our kids in walkable neighborhoods. We don’t own cars. Our work—and our lifestyle—champions compact, complete communities and transit-oriented design. So why are we talking about subdivisions? Because 58% of all new homes in Canada are still single-family houses, mostly built at the edges of […] The post Wait—Smart Density Is Supporting Sprawl Now? appeared first on Smart Density.| Smart Density
Fish Market in Busan, South Korea Naama Blonder & Misha Bereznyak, 2012 Thirteen years ago, just after I graduated, Misha and I packed our backpacks and took off on a six-month trip across East Asia. We had a loose plan—start in India and come back when we run out of money. Korea wasn’t high on […]| Smart Density
The District of Saanich, BC, provides a compelling model for how municipalities can unlock faith-based and institutional lands for affordable housing—without requiring lengthy rezoning processes. Through its P-1 and P-1R zoning designations, Saanich allows residential uses as-of-right on properties traditionally used for religious assembly, enabling non-profits and faith groups to respond to housing needs more […]| Smart Density
What the Ritson School project in Durham Region can teach municipalities about how to structure public land projects to achieve housing goals With the launch of the federal government’s Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF), many municipalities have started identifying publicly owned sites as a key tool for delivering new housing. In the rush to meet housing […]| Smart Density
In transit-oriented developments (TODs) around the world, one challenge keeps showing up: the density is there—but the neighbourhoods often feel oversized, overpaved, and underwhelming.But too often, the default design approach—tall buildings paired with wide, car-oriented streets—misses the opportunity that density can offer. we’ve developed a new approach called Scaling Down, and in one of our […]| Smart Density
As low-rise developers are under pressure to make projects more competitive, we help them do that through walkable layouts, hyper-efficient land use, and better design—without compromising market viability. The following is a targeted review of built projects using private/shared governance to enable improved housing form, streetscape, or public realm quality. Research Scope and Observations This research […]| Smart Density
