Regional Council receives national award for Community Building Strategy

Waterloo Region – Regional Council accepted a 2014 National Urban Design Award at tonight’s meeting for the Central Transit Corridor Community Building Strategy. 

The award from the Royal Architecture Institute of Canada, in partnership with the Canadian Institute of Planners and the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects, recognizes “individuals, organizations, firms and projects that have contributed to the quality of life in our Canadian cities and their sustainability.” In 2014, projects in 12 communities across Canada were recognized.

The Region of Waterloo, collaborating with the Cities of Cambridge, Kitchener and Waterloo, developed the Community Building Strategy as an investment and development plan to help identify and manage the opportunities that are expected with the Region’s new rapid transit system, ION.

“The Community Building Strategy is a unique plan – one of only a few in North America – and this award recognizes that it is going to be an important tool that will help us realize the opportunities that will come with the investment we are making in rapid transit, while helping us manage the investment and development that is already happening along the ION corridor and shape the future of our community,” said Rob Horne, Commissioner of Planning, Housing and Community Services at the Region.

Regional Council accepted the award from Les Klein, a member of the Board of Directors for the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, Mark Seasons, a representative from the Canadian Institute of Planners, and Robert Norman, president-elect of Board of Directors for the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects.

In the official announcement of the award, the jury said the CBS “brings forth a framework to ensure a successful transportation and mobility strategy and adjacent enjoyable and livable communities as part of a comprehensive urban corridor development strategy.”

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For more information about the award or the Community Building Strategy, please contact Rob Horne, Commissioner of Planning, Housing or Community Services at rhorne@regionofwaterloo.ca or 519-575-4001.

The Region of Waterloo provides more than 60 per cent of municipal services to a growing population of 550,000 people. We are committed to creating an inclusive, thriving and sustainable community through innovative leadership and a range of services such as: public health, social services, planning, heritage, water supply, regional roads, waste management, ambulance service, rural libraries, public transit, community housing, emergency planning, Provincial Offences Courts and airport services.