Where do the PMAD and TOD stand one year later?

By Louis-Michel Fournie, Urban Planner

A year has already passed since the CMM’s Metropolitan Land Use and Development Plan (PMAD) came into force. This plan, which was initially poorly received by elected officials in 2005, has evolved into a more participative and integrated approach, rallying the support of all 82 municipalities. Several organizations, including the AQTR and the OUQ, have awarded prizes and distinctions to the planning commission for its work on the Plan. What’s more, the new requirements in terms of densification and limits to urbanization were widely reported in the media.

Transit-oriented development (TOD) is the principal means of implementing the PMAD, and has been on everyone’s lips for the past year. But they are still poorly understood, even by many planning professionals. Over the next few years, the challenge will be to turn the plan into reality, and first and foremost, to create well-designed TODs. How will RCMs and municipalities deal with these new planning prerogatives? Two levels of intervention are required to implement sustainable urban planning solutions such as TODs: territorial planning and urban projects.

Territorial planning
The MRC L’Assomption and its constituent municipalities are the first to experience the planning implications of the new PMAD. The revised Schéma d’aménagement et de développement (SADR) of the MRC L’Assomption, in force since December 19, is the first to comply with the PMAD. Exceptionally, this is the first time that a schéma d’aménagement has been accepted on first filing, and no replacement SADR has had to be produced! The municipalities included in the MRC are currently working on revising their planning documents, in accordance with the Schéma, but for the first time they must take into account the metropolitan orientations of the PMAD, which are transcribed therein.

The plan includes regional density and TOD planning. The minimum density has been set at 40 log/ha in TOD areas and between 15 and 21 log/ha outside. Detailed planning is also required for each TOD area, setting out development criteria. This RCM can therefore serve as a benchmark for the 13 others, which have less than 2 years to comply with the PMAD.

Urban project
Among the flagship interventions arising from the PMAD, support for the realization of 7 TOD pilot projects is certainly the most striking to date. They will receive $100,000 in financial support from the CMM for their detailed planning.

Map from Bilan 2013 de la mise en œuvre du PMAD, Cahier métropolitain No 2, February 2013

These urban projects are still very much in their infancy, with the exception of the City of Candiac, which has already begun designing a PPU to plan its TOD. This approach is noteworthy, as the municipality is exercising its leadership role while fostering a climate of collaboration by including the various relevant players in the planning process.

Implementing TOD : the keys to success
Implementing the PMAD, and more broadly a sustainable urban development project, lies in the planning approach and urban design. First and foremost, the integration of all stakeholders around a shared vision is the foundation of a successful project. CMM Director Massimo Letsoni promotes an integrated approach in this respect.

Integrated design

Plans such as urban development plans or PPUs are all too often full of good directions, but are shelved for lack of ownership by partners. The integrated design process has the advantage of integrating stakeholders both upstream and downstream of the planning process. Stakeholders are involved in both the vision and its realization. This ensures better implementation of planned interventions.

Beyond planning, the quality of the designed living environment is essential. This is the second condition for the success of a TOD: urban design. It’s not enough to simply group a few dense buildings and a mix of uses around an intermodal station to create a TOD. We need to design a human-scale experience that’s both friendly and aesthetically pleasing, a real “walkable ” neighborhood where it’s good to live and work.

A multitude of methods and means developed through TOD programs throughout North America can serve as inspiration (Austin, Philadelphia, Washington, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, Denver, etc.). Experiences elsewhere should also be used to rethink the very way we develop. Planning and design methods should not be copied, but adapted to the specific context of each project, in order to create sustainable neighborhoods with a strong identity. It is undoubtedly possible to aspire to results as beneficial or even more successful than the TODs cited as examples today. In all cases, lessons learned from previous experience and integrated design are the way forward.