NEWS RELEASE

Council Unanimously Approves Plan to Promote the Urban Core

(Tuesday, July 6, 2010) - Bringing focus and life back into the heart of HRM to boost revenues and help support the entire region is the goal of the new “Capital Ideas” Strategic Urban Partnership and discussion paper approved by Regional Council tonight.

The job of the new partnership would be to gather together the key ingredients for a successful, expanding urban core. This includes players from government and the private sector, planning tools like HRM's Economic Strategy, Regional Plan, HRM by Design, and the province's Environmental Goals and Sustainable Prosperity Act, as well as tangible assets like HRM’s vacant land opportunities within the urban core. Potential new financial, commercial taxation and legislative changes will also be put forward that can maximize future growth in the Capital District.

“By pulling together all resources - human, policy ideas and real assets - the Strategic Urban Partnership can focus on what is available to us and harness future growth for our region,” said Mayor Peter Kelly. “We have great people, great opportunities and great ideas; we just need to pull them together at one table to help grow the urban core to the benefit of all HRM citizens.”

The Mayor noted that in the 2010 Citizens Survey, respondents marked the “redevelopment of the downtown core” as one of their top five capital projects.

The discussion paper points to the need for HRM to concentrate investment and growth in areas that are already served by existing infrastructure - including things like sidewalks, streets, parks and schools as well as restaurants, shops and cultural attractions - which is the Regional Centre and secondary growth centres already identified in HRM’s Regional Plan.

“Focussing investment and resources on the urban core is also a green initiative,” HRM Urban Design Project Manager Andy Fillmore said. “By densifying - or concentrating more people living and working in the urban areas of the region - you reduce the pressure to develop in less sustainable areas, while at the same time reducing greenhouse gases.”

With Council’s vote, the next step to moving the “Capital Ideas” solution forward is to pull the Strategic Urban partners together to collectively define their mandate.

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Contact:

Mayor Peter Kelly
Halifax Regional Municipality
490-4010

Andy Fillmore
Urban Design Project Manager
490-6495

Shaune MacKinlay
HRM Public Affairs
490-6531