Canada’s mid-sized cities — those with populations between 50,000 to 500,000 — have long been characterized as low-density, dispersed and decentralized. In these cities, cars dominate, public transit is limited and residents prefer the space and privacy of suburban neighbourhoods.

Several mounting issues, ranging from climate change and the housing affordability crisis to the growing infrastructure deficit, are challenging municipalities to rethink this approach.

Cities are adopting growth management strategies that promote density and seek to curtail, rather than encourage, urban sprawl. Key to this is intensification, a strategy that prioritizes adding new housing in existing and mature neighbourhoods instead of outward expansion along the city’s edge.

City centres are often central to intensification strategies, given the abundance of vacant or underused land. Adding more residents supports downtown revitalization efforts, while simultaneously curbing urban sprawl.

Dense, compact urban growth is favoured by mid-sized Canadian cities

Revitalizing city centres by making them more dense and mixed-use can help curb urban sprawl.

The Conversation (theconversation.com)