Beginning in Spring 2008, Prof. Nik Luka has led a project exploring urban design strategies for optimising existing and proposed trunk public-transit lines, using the Montréal metropolitan region as both observatory and laboratory for developing participatory whole-corridor urban design approaches to address urban form, activity, and regulatory instruments in the areas flanking several public transit axes. Two existing metro lines, three proposed new tramway lines, and a planned Bus Rapid Transit line have been scrutinised in several graduate studios in urban design and urban planning.
Three specific tasks have been involved in this two-year project:
- Studying the Montréal corridors in a project- and infrastructure life-cycle perspective to identify possibilities for major and minor adjustments to infrastructure projects;
- Developing detailed design and policy interventions--approaches that can maximise transit use while optimising the benefits of the infrastructure itself for city-building and urban regeneration;
- Working with project partners in local government and transportation agencies to consider strategies for implementation.
Centred in the Urban Design studio program, the WCUDS project has actively engaged local residents and other private- and public-sector stakeholders in participatory design processes. The aim has been to develop detailed design and policy interventions to help increase transit ridership while also optimising the benefits of the infrastructure itself for city-building and urban regeneration.
The project has been generously funded by a C$220 000 grant from the Future Urban Transport Programme of the Volvo Research and Education Foundations.
Additional information, including summary reports on the project, will be posted on this website in Summer 2010.