STAFF WRITER – The Ontario Construction Report
Burlington, in the Halton Region at the western end of Lake Ontario, is both part of the Greater Toronto Area and the Hamilton Census Metropolitan Area. The city is currently renewing its strategic plan and rethinking its economic development strategy as it reaches build-out; that is, it will grow through intensification rather than greenfield subdivisions.
Burlington Vision 2025 this far has looked at trends and gathered stakeholder input to develop seven strategic economic directions which will include the development and intensification of employment lands, a growing community, fostering business growth, transit and transportation and intergovernmental alignment. According to the city’s website “Burlington Vision 2025 will act as both a stand-alone economic strategy which outlines in detail our vision for Burlington’s economy and will also be fully integrated into the City of Burlington 2015 Strategic Plan.”
Burlington is the first community in the Halton region facing growth build out with just one remaining subdivision on the books. The challenge for the city moving forward then is understanding how to move from greenfield development to a redevelopment perspective and, along the way, ensuring a focus on building neighbourhoods and communities, rather than simply intensifying.
Part of growing and evolving the city will also come from ensuring strong partnership opportunities. BEDC (Burlington Economic Development) has partnered with McMaster University to develop an event series to support business growth as one such initiative.
The Burlington Innovation District is a collaboration between BEDC, the City of Burlington, McMaster and Fraunhofer Society (Europe’s largest application-oriented research organization) to consider ideas and next steps for moving forward with plans for such things as new integrated urban design, energy and transportation planning, and the challenges and opportunities of perspective developers.
For more information, visit www.bedc.ca.