Calgary Municipal Land Corporation - Imagination Award

The East Village by the Calgary Municipal Land Corporation is the recipient of the Imagination Award from the Canadian Urban Institute's 2010 Urban Leadership Awards program, which has been paying tribute to individuals, groups and organizations that have made a profound and lasting impact on the quality of life in Canada's cities and urban regions.

The East Village Master Plan represents CMLC's vision for the future and was inspired by the most livable urban areas in the world. It will transform 15 blocks of East Village into an "urban village" -- a dense place of diversity, culture and entertainment that will have mixed uses, which will create life on the street day and night.

The East Village is built on a unique financial foundation that utilizes an innovative funding mechanism called the Community Revitalization Levy (CRL). Established by the City of Calgary and Province of Alberta, the CRL provides a means to segregate property tax revenues within the River's District and use those funds for the community's infrastructure needs. CMLC borrows against the future tax revenues, so as redevelopment progresses and property taxes grown, the increased tax revenues are put into a fund that will pay for the millions of dollars of infrastructure that is currently making development possible.

The CRL has allowed for significant work to be completed towards the realization of the East Village's master plan, which was developed after the CMLC conducted extensive market research to discover the living preferences of Calgarians. This identified a new breed of Calgarian that doesn't want to live in the suburbs - the 'Urban Explorers', who are longing for a culturally rich community where they can live, work and play.

Committed to engaging these Urban Explorers through the completion of a broad amenity base, programmed events in East Village and a diverse product offering, the CMLC currently has a significant portion of the East Village's 15 blocks under construction with streets being realigned, environmental cleanup undertaken, new utility infrastructure being installed, wider sidewalks being constructed and the land being raised as much as 1.5 metres to flood plain level, making this historic and long-neglected area along the eastern edge of Calgary's downtown staged to become the model for sustainable community re-development in Canada.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• Urban Leadership Awards
• Canadian Urban Institute
• CUI
• Keeframe Productions