Large-scale Traditional Neighbourhood Development and Pre-emptive Ecosystem Planning: The Markham Experience, 1989-2001

Environmental protection and restoration in 10 suburban community plans are compared to the recommendations of an innovative Natural Features Study (NFS) of Markham, Ontario. The secondary plans will accommodate 150 000 people and are North America's largest concentration of new communities planned with traditional neighbourhood design principles. Their planning and development is an early test of whether New Urbanism can collaborate with pre-emptive ecosystem planning. The results of the comparison indicate that the plans met or exceeded most objectives for environmental protection. The record on environmental restoration is mixed, with several proposed links lost during the design and development process, perhaps because the NFS was not adopted as official policy before neighbourhood planning began. It appears that environmental restoration is best approached on a regional basis, with plans and financial incentives in place before land is subject to development pressure.