No. 1: Restructuring of urban economies
May 10, 2015
Pamela Blais was part of a consulting team developing a new Official Community Plan for the City of Regina. She provided input to the plan development process and policies regarding the employment elements of the Plan, linking plan policies with economic competitiveness. http://www.designregina.ca
Pamela Blais acted as advisor to the Neptis Foundation on a major consultant study depicting the physical form of the Toronto region in 2031 and its implications for land consumption, transportation, servicing, emissions and infrastructure costs. Click here for report.
Prepared for the Neptis Foundation as input into the Toronto region’s “Places to Grow” Plan, this report shows how urban growth can be deployed as a strategic resource to achieve economic, social and environmental objectives. Click here for report.
Based on a review of economic trends and local conditions, Metropole suggested steps the City of Calgary could take to attract non-retail employment uses to a planned suburban centre. A comprehensive approach included suggestions regarding urban design, infrastructure, business attraction, and planning.
Working with enTRA consultants, Metropole developed a Guidebook suggesting policies and initiatives that the City of Ottawa could undertake to promote transit ridership.
Pamela Blais acted as an advisor to the CIty of Regina in their review of interim development charges, with a view to ensuring that these municipal financial policies supported both planning objectives and financial sustainability for the municipality.
Pamela Blais acted as Special Advisor to NRTEE on its Urban Sustainability Program. The Program developed a set of new fiscal measures to be implemented primarily by the Federal government, where possible with supporting provincial and local measures, to improve the environmental quality of Canadian cities. Click here for report.
Pamela Blais provided the economic rationale for a regional approach to urban growth and development for a White Paper prepared by the City of Regina. The paper was essential to supporting the CIty’s application to the Province to annex surrounding lands in support of Regina’s new Official Community Plan.
Metropole Consultants prepared a report outlining key ways in which the City could support initiatives related to urban form that would both enhance economic competitiveness and environmental sustainability. Major areas of synergy reviewed were: promoting efficient urban infrastructure, promoting industry clusters, reducing non-residential sprawl, and the use of information and communications technology to reduce business-related travel.
Metropole Consultants assisted the Privy Council Office in an analysis of the federal government’s current and potential role in promoting sustainable urban infrastructure.
Metropole Consultants was part of a multi-disciplinary team developing an interactive tool to assist municipalities and plannwothers to assess the relative cost and environmental impacts of development proposals.
Metropole Consultants drafted the (then) newly amalgamated City of Toronto’s first economic development strategy.
Metropole Consultants was part of a team conducting economic research and developing an economic development strategy for the City of Toronto. The results of the project fed into both the economic development strategy and the then-new Official Plan.
While employed at Berridge Lewinberg Greenberg Dark Gabor (now Urban Strategies), Pamela Blais undertook this major background report for the GTA Task Force. The report examined the hard infrastructure and related costs associated with alternative development patterns for GTA growth, finding significant savings to be realised from moving toward a more efficient urban form.