Civicplan

06/18/2025

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05/29/2025

Daylighting a buried creek is one way to reconnect a neighbourhood to water. That's what the Rethinking Chedoke Creek project is all about.

Learn more and participate in the virtual Community Design Lab at https://barc.planlocal.ca/

12/20/2024

"Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody."

At Civicplan, we continued to be inspired by this sage advice from Jane Jacobs.

12/04/2024

Over 50% of Ontario’s GHG emissions come from cities. While they cannot control all emissions, they can help decrease GHGs through leading by example, providing services and planning how they grow.

The City of Mississauga - Municipal Government is updating its Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP) and as part of this exciting process, Civicplan has designed an interactive and informative Community Climate Lab to help engage residents about the plan update. The Climate Lab helps residents learn what the City is currently doing and engages them on what actions the City should take in the future to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

11/18/2024

The ideas are flowing! A Community Design Lab is an interactive way for residents to participate in the improvement of their civic spaces. Residents can share ideas for making space greener, more accessible to pedestrians and exciting. Through Civicplan's Design Lab, we are pleased to be assisting GSP and MTE with engaging residents around the redesign St. George’s Square in downtown Guelph.

11/06/2024

Building a Stronger City - In the fall issue of Hamilton City Magazine, Civicplan's Paul Shaker explains why the Strong Towns movement and lessons from south of the border can act as inspiration for community engagement, planning and redevelopment here.

Strong Towns conference in Cincinnati – and the city itself – offer plenty of examples of what we can do to build a livable, inviting city for residents and visitors. Back in May, a group of intrepid Hamiltonians made the trek south of the border to attend the Strong Towns National Gathering in ...

10/28/2024

A local park is a centerpiece for neighbourhoods across cities. Civicplan is currently working with Matrix Solutions Inc. + Seferian Design Group on the reimaging of multiple parks in the Kitchener-Waterloo area in response to changing needs resulting from climate change and stormwater management.

Redeveloping these important community spaces require creative ways to engage neighbourhoods and that is why we are using interactive engagement tools and participatory design to bring residents into the process to reimagine their community parks.

10/21/2024

There is a reason why they call it PUBLIC space. When there is a once-in-a-generation redesign of a major civic space, like St. George's Square in downtown Guelph, residents want to participate!

Civicplan was on site at Guelph City Hall with our Community Design Lab to help residents have a say in shaping this important city space.

09/12/2024

"Progress on becoming a more livable and sustainable city must include eliminating stroads in dense urban neighbourhoods that should be flourishing with people and commerce but instead prioritize traffic speed and volume."

Hamilton’s progress on becoming a more livable and sustainable city must include eliminating corridors in dense urban neighbourhoods that should be flourishing with people and commerce but instead prioritize traffic speed and volume. Slowly, but surely, Hamilton is making progress on becoming a mo...

09/05/2024

With the start of another school year, it's a great time to remember that if you want to build effective pedestrian friendly streets, build them for students walking to/from school. A Student Streets Strategy is a great way to develop active transportation, sustainable neighbourhoods and safer streets.

08/07/2024

The Cootes to Escarpment EcoPark System is a one-of-a-kind natural treasure. This collaboration of 9 partners protects nearly 2,200 ha of open space between Cootes Paradise and the Niagara Escarpment. Civicplan & BMcH were pleased to work with the Ecopark team on planning & strategy.

07/18/2024

"When we usually talk about city development and sustainability, too often we focus on the urban part of our city. We discuss how neighbourhoods are developing, where housing is being built, opportunities for intensification, downtown renewal, or the implementation of rapid transit, for instance. However, this is an incomplete discussion. What about the rural part, where suburban housing ends and farming fields begin?"

h/t Hamilton City Magazine

Preserving Hamilton’s rural character needs to be a high priority for economic and environmental reasons. When we usually talk about city development and sustainability, too often we focus on the urban part of our city. We discuss how neighbourhoods are developing, where housing is being built, op...