Spacing Saturday highlights posts from across Spacing’s blog network in Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and the Atlantic region. A new city was founded this week, the city of Spacington . Spacing staffers will use Sim City to attempt to turn Spacington into a 21st century utopia over the coming weeks using feedback from reader commentary. Comment early, comment often and help build the city. Gordon Price uses the Prince Points feature to look into the story of a cluster of towers at Lougheed Town Centre. Through the work of David Pereira, Price explores the tower's connections to Simon Fraser University and why such density was built in the midst of what was significant greenfield at the time. While many questioned the future of the skyscraper after September 11th, Sean Ruthen shows that the last decade may have precipitated a century in which the tall building will be zeitgeist. Through his review of Andres Janser's new book Highrise Idea and Reality, Ruthen discusses the global phenomenon which has seen the number of high rise buildings on earth double in the past 10 years. Jay Baltz reports on the ongoing effort to enact guidelines on Ottawa's use of Section 37, the portion of Ontario's Planning Act that facilitates density bonusing, and criticizes how the guidelines have changed over a year of consultations. Eric Darwin uses the Walkspace feature to highlight some of the difficulties Ottawa pedestrians face this time of year through a photo series of a good samaritan getting no respect from drivers. As Saint John enjoys the completion of its new Official Plan, Morgan Lanigan comments on how the next step will be a thorough review of the Zoning By-law in light of the lessons learned over the 40 years of urban planning. As disagreement on council continues to leave Toronto's transit planning in shambles, John Lorinc weighs in on the roles of various actors in the debate and who needs to step up to restore order. Shawn Micalleff uses the Toronto Flaneur feature to react to John Tory's appointment to head up the revitalization of Ontario Place, making a compelling argument that the rethink should stay rooted in the site's rich past while emphasizing its role as a public space.

Spacing Saturday highlights posts from across Spacing’s blog network in Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and the Atlantic region. The Video Vancouver feature presented its first original video this week, capturing the atmosphere of Vancouver at the winter solstice, a feeling described as unique amongst Canadian cities. Yuri Artibise reviews new work by Emmanuel Buenviaje who uses mix of photography and graphic design to create images of his Mount Pleasant neighbourhood that capture the intricacy and history of Vancouver's older and industrial districts. Members of the Spacing Ottawa diaspora returned this week with posts from their new home cities. David McClelland writes about his observations of Niagara Region's new inter-city regional bus service as a prime example of the question of what comes first: the transit or the riders? Adam Bentley, a Spacing Ottawa contributor who recently moved to Edmonton, shares his observations of his first several months in the city including its good and planning history. His central conclusion: Edmonton doesn't suck. As part of the ongoing Altantic Snapshots series Stephen Archibald profiles the Wellington Barracks. Hidden within an active Canadian Forces Base, the barracks is amongst Halifax's most important mid-nineteenth century buildings, retaining significant elements of grandeur. Like the ends of many north-south streets in Toronto, the bottom of Leslie Street presents a fantastic opportunity to become a gateway to the waterfront. Dylan Reid presents a detailed plan to capitalize on an excellent opportunity at the bottom of Leslie despite heel dragging from the City. Niki Siabinis completes the tale of her three day cycling journey from Toronto to Montreal within a marathon last day that includes construction obstacles, night riding and lots of sore muscles.

Spacing Saturday highlights posts from across Spacing’s blog network in Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and the Atlantic region. Following the recent release of new redevelopment plans, Andrew Witt tells the story of the controversial Little Mountain social housing redevelopment. The project has been criticized for decade late return dates, encouraging gentrification and falling short of new affordable housing units. As part of his Price Points feature Gordon Price looks at the history of the Burnaby Metrotown as a harbinger of a growing regional awareness and planning initiative in the 1970's in light of thesis work by David Pereira. While praising Ottawa's Transportation Master Plan, Alex Devries synthesizes a golden rule that cycling advocates in the city must work around: "No change to drivers at any cost." Devries uses a lists of successful project to show how cycling advocates have worked around this rule. Alexandre Laquerre used his Maintenant & Avant feature this week to show off 110 years of change on the upper Rideau Canal showing a city that has both matured greatly and moved away from the railway. Adria Young features a provocative public art installation on the site of Halifax's new downtown convention centre. The installation, Town Square by Scott Saunders draws on the site's public consultation controversy by populating the site with ghostly business figures. Abad Khan provides an update on a story which appeared in the fall issue of Spacing Magazine about two different strategies to road widening proposals in Moncton and Halifax. Moncton's bold approach of reducing car lanes has received vindication while Halifax's road widening has become tangled in politics. Spacing's Dylan Reid reports back from the fascinating proceedings of a recent University of Toronto conference "Is there Planning Law or just City Politics?" The conference provided a lot of insight and opinions on Ontario's convoluted planning process. Niki Siabanis continues taking readers along her summer cycling journey from Toronto to Montreal, with the second day including a brief stint on the 401 and the beauty of the thousand islands.

Spacing Saturday highlights posts from across Spacing’s blog network in Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and the Atlantic region. Toronto's City Place Neighbourhood Rises Don Schuetze continues the theme of urban screen, sharing his experience of stumbling across the opening night of a Surrey art exhibition and witnessing the reactions to it. Yuri Artibise reviews The Chuck Davis History of Metropolitan Vancouver written largely by Chuck Davis, the city's unofficial historian, and completed posthumously by friends and admirers. Artibise concludes that the book is perhaps the most accessible history of Vancouver yet written, talking down the idea that city has no history. From the position of a former Policy Adviser and Senior Assistant to a councillor, Donna Silver presents the top ten ways to reduce unnecessary tension between citizens and their planning department and restore confidence in city planning. As part of the Forgotten Vanier feature Mike Steinhauer looks at the rise and fall of the Butler Motor Hotel as a parable for the history of small family-run motels across Canada and the fading built legacy they left. Could you cycle between Montreal and Toronto in three days? Niki Siabanis presents the first in a series of posts intimately and honestly describing a summer three day cycling journey between Canada's two largest cities. The jury is still out on City Place, the forest of sleek glass condominiums taking shape on Toronto's former railway lands. Ryan Bolton gives readers an inside scoop from a resident of the community, finding it far from a ghetto but still in need of some love.

Spacing Saturday highlights posts from across Spacing’s blog network in Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and the Atlantic region. Yuri Artibise tells the story of a specific group of the 'Vancouver Special,'  a stock housing design developed in the 1960's which was made cheaply available and manifested in several thousand houses throughout Vancouver. The group of houses tell a unique story of  the history of the Strathcona neighbourhood. Cameron Barker examines the striking architecture of the new Visitors Centre recently opened at Vancouver's Van Dusen Gardens. Predicting that this new year will not only be good to Ottawa but will make it the Canadian city to watch in 2012, Alan Miguelez presents the top ten reasons for optimism in 2012. Mark Brandt reviews the book Cities as Crucibles: Reflections on Canada's Urban Future by Francois Lapointe, current VP of Capital Planning at the National Commission, and finds it to be a comprehensive and accessible understanding of how to re-create Canadian cities in the coming years. Toronto's homicide rate hit a 25 year low in 2011, John Lorinc  reflects on the reasons behind this success as well as the shifting politics behind public safety in the city under Rob Ford. Alex Bozikovic's No Mean City architectural feature asks tough questions about the soullessness of international waterfront redevelopment based on recent states from leading architect Rem Koolhaas. In a separate post No Mean City also pays homage to the walk-up apartment, advocating how this residential form could fill an important niche in Toronto's housing market which is currently neglected.