Pandemic-and Future-Proofing Cities: Pedestrian-oriented Development as an Alternative Model to Transit-based Intensification Centers

Many official smart growth inspired Canadian plans limit sprawl by mixing land uses, transportation modes, jobs and residents to create compact, transit-oriented, multi-functional, intensification centres enriched with amenities and highly designed public spaces. However, these intensification strategies, built on new or expanded public transit systems at metropolitan, regional and local planning scales, face challenges amid the 2020 pandemic. Recovery from the combined COVID-19-induced loss of commercial activity in intensification centres and confidence in public transit could take years, and combined with an increased reliance on private vehicles, could undo decades of planning efforts at shifting unsustainable land use-transportation dynamics. This chapter proposes as an alternative, or complementary, intensification approach, a pedestrian-oriented development (POD) model inspired by the ‘15-minute city’ being considered across the world.