Cityzen Developments

An Update on the Streetcar Safety Mural Project

Each year the NXT City Prize takes place in Toronto. As one of the world's best, most livable cities, this competition offers Toronto's young innovators encouragement to think up creative solutions and improvements for the city's public spaces. It provides a platform for the next big idea to be realized. The call is broad, looking for innovations that will help the public move, interact, work, commute, relax, play, or gather. This year's winner presented 'Streetcar Safety Murals' that are now actually becoming a reality. Here's the scoop. 

An Introduction to the Rail Deck Park

Green spaces are an essential part of city living. They serve as an escape from the concrete jungle, as well as a meeting and recreational place for neighbourhoods that help bring together the community. Currently our city boasts a total of 121 parks that cover roughly 100 hectares of land. On any given day in the summer you'll find that any one of these parks will be brimming with Torontonians - playing, sunning, and relaxing. Last August, Mayor John Tory announced plans for the development of a new public park - the Rail Deck Park. Here's everything you need to know. 

BRING IN THE OUTDOORS: BUILDING YOUR OWN URBAN GARDEN

A lot of people think that living in a condo means you don’t have space for a garden, but based on our research those people are just plain wrong. Urban gardening is a growing trend that brings the outdoors in (or if you’re lucky enough to have a balcony, then plant there!) and allows those without a backyard to grow their own herbs, flowers, and plants.

These are some of our favourite (and easy) urban garden ideas that we think you should try at home.

YOUR GUIDE TO THE MARTIN GOODMAN TRAIL

We are unbelievably lucky to have a public space like the Martin Goodman Trail here in Toronto. This cycling and inline skating trail runs along our lakeshore for 56 kilometres, starting in the west near the Humber Bridge all the way in the east to Rouge River. It’s the perfect place to go be active, appreciate our waterfront, and spend the day outside.

Inside Claude Cormier's Creative Process

It’s no secret that we love Claude Cormier’s work and are extremely excited for what he’ll bring to our Garrison Point community. He is one of Canada’s most talented landscape architects (if not the most talented) and his work is recognized in cities and neighbourhoods all over the world, including Berczy Park most recently. Cormier has spent a significant amount of his career bringing innovative landscape architecture to Toronto and Montreal in particular. His designs are both inspiring and beautiful, which is why we were excited to chat with him about how he got into the field, where he gets his design inspiration from, and learn more about his overall creative process. 

Upcoming MAD Designs to Get Excited About

If you have a love of architecture, then surely you know who Ma Yansong is. In fact, you probably worship the ground he walks on. In case you're not yet a devout follower, let us introduce you. Ma Yansong is the key architect for MAD Architects. MAD is an architectural design firm based in Beijing, and represents the creative minds responsible for our popular Absolute Towers development in Mississauga. Founded in 2004, the contemporary studio has been showcasing their unique approach to architecture ever since. Their designs are futuristic, yet organic in that they're always striving to find the balance between 'humanity, the city, and the environment'. Here are six of their upcoming projects to look forward to. 

An Introduction to Toronto's Complete Streets' Guidelines

If you've been paying attention to local news over the last month, you've probably heard the term 'Complete Streets' thrown around. It's also very likely that you've never heard of this before, and are wondering what it's all about. The city recently released its guidelines for these 'complete streets' in order to provide an introduction to the more holistically designed streets of the near future. It takes existing policies, guidelines, and successes that our street design already has, and then builds on those concepts. Here's an introduction to what the concept of complete streets entails. 

Impressive Solar Panels from Around the World

2017 is no different than 2016 in more than just a few ways, but one significant similarity is the call to have environmental issues at top of mind. Society wants to see a change in polices nationally and around the world, to help protect the planet for those who live on it now, and those who will be on Earth in the future. A major environmental focus is on sustainable energy, such as wind and geothermal. Another type of sustainable energy that has been making headlines lately is solar! Solar panels harness the power of the sun's rays for the purpose of generating electricity. Here's a look at some of the most impressive uses of solar energy across the globe. 

All About the NXT City Prize Winner

For the past two years NXT City has been doing amazing things for the city of Toronto. Through their call to the public and selection process, they've brought about 200 creative public spaces ideas to our attention, worked with influential civic leaders, brought together public and private organizations, and fostered a collaborative community with their NXT City Night party. While that's all incredible, the most significant thing the organization has done is provide a platform for young innovators who have the next big and bright ideas for our city. This years prize winners had their 'eureka' moment, and we're so glad they did. Here's everything you need to know. 

Don't Miss: Daniel Libeskind at CityAge!

Fun fact: the population of Southern Ontario is expected to increase from 9 million to 13.5 million by 2041. These types of increases are predicted for any number of cities both nationally and globally. The big question that arises? How can regions like these respond, more importantly, how can they flourish under these conditions rather than get bogged down? That's where events like CityAge come in.