Quebec has unveiled its land use plan, but remains vague on the details

This is how Quebec’s Minister of Municipalities and Housing, Andrée Laforest, described the presentation of the very first national policy on architecture and land use planning. He was in Saguenay with the Minister of Culture, Nathalie Roy, to present the details of this document, which is eagerly awaited by the actors responsible for the development of the province.

baptized Live better and build our territorythe policy states the strategic perspective of Quebec regarding the city’s development for the next 20 years. Among the concerns: densification, the fight against climate change and the aging of the population.

” We can build better. You don’t have to hide it. When you build anywhere, it costs a huge amount in municipal development. “

But the government has been stingy on the details of how to achieve its ambitions, even now. If the Ministers of Housing and Culture appeared on Monday a vision coming from a awarenessthe implementation plan that provide tools to municipalitieshe will not be presented until after the general election next fall.

And we have to wait until 2023 to find out the concrete actions Quebec intends to take, and the budget envelopes that will be allocated to them.

Awaiting concrete steps

If he wants to greet the presentation of national planning policy, the Ordre des urbanistes du Québec (OUQ), by its president Sylvain Gariépy, regrets that the document announced today contains some concrete promises, no budget, or even a detailed roadmap.

” So it’s hard to say that this announcement represents the promising paradigm shift that Quebec needs. Expectations remain high for the promised plan of action. The government has established basic principles; it now needs to define the methods of implementation. “

Same story from the side of the Vivre en Ville organization, which says it considers enough the approach presented by Quebec, but believes the government now has a obligation of results to prevent urban sprawl and combat climate change.

To journalists present at the announcement, Minister Laforest denied that it was still standing on the file. According to him, the policy is a first step that addresses the need to have better planning of territory and a better consultation with local actors.

What we don’t like is wall-to-wall, says Andrée Laforest. Not all regions have the same needs. Consensus in all regions is important.

Densification at the heart of the approach

The 33-page document presented by Quebec gives great importance to the issue of territorial densification and the fight against urban sprawl.

To control urban growth, it is necessary to increase the density of land use and promote compact forms of development close to infrastructure and public networks on the scale of both rural and urban environments, that is, ie taking into account considering their characteristics.can we read there.

Last May, Quebec’s Minister of Transportation, François Bonnardel, however caused a stir when he called fashion urban densification projects, but recommended by a scientific opinion on climate change commissioned by his government.

Who am I to say to a young family: “Since densification is in vogue, you will live in a twelve story tower”?he said at the time, an assertion that has reaped the wrath of many elected municipal officials.

The Legault government also did not specify whether this new land use planning policy would have an impact on the third link project between Quebec and Lévis. The twin-tube tunnel project, whose preparatory work should begin this fall, has been criticized by some experts as a vector of urban sprawl.

In the implementation plan we will present in 2023, we specifically want to put in place better tools to handle structuring projects, such as the Quebec-Lévis tunnel.Minister Laforest’s press secretary replied when asked about it.