COMMUNITY
TRANSFORMATION

A shifting view of development

If we address the ecological health of cities,
​a tipping point of global transformation is possible.

Transforming a community over time

OUR GOAL is to establish new and healthy patterns of development
within a community for ecological and social co-evolution.​ It looks to maximize the uplift in community
value that occurs from smart and strategically planned infrastructure investments (typically involving
public dollars) that sponsor a strong, constructive development response from the private sector. 

OUR METHOD ​is to use a specialized planning practice called value planning, 
which identifies the social and environmental assets of a community.  It provides decision makers with
tools to organize infrastructure projects and add to the tax base rather than the tax burden. 

OUR APPROACH is to unlock the wealth of place
​Development projects are most successful where the communities they are situated within are thriving.
Our place-based Value Planning methodology, which was incubated at the Canadian Urban Institute, is
designed to maximize community wealth generation to ensure communities thrive and remain
sustainable.

​​By focusing on neighbourhoods, and operating with evidence based strategies, it focuses investments
on initiatives that foster enhanced sustainability.

Long-term benefits

​​Our starting point is place, not project, so the focus is the preparation of a public/private community
based investment strategy with the developers as prominent stakeholders. 

The objective is to ensure the community becomes invested in supporting successful outcomes long
term. Development projects optimize their position within the cohesive public/private sector
investment strategy, and a triple bottom line return-on-investment is modeled with the uplift
response derived from analogues of success. 

Our methodology places guardianship of the strategy with the community, including development
stakeholders, providing risk protection for all vested interests.

for the developer

for the community

for the municipality

Shorter time to project

approvals (ameliorates

community resistance)


Higher project incomes

(projects leverage position

within a cohesive community

based investment strategy)


Triple bottom line outcomes

(providing ESG metrics). Lower

risk (of not meeting project

delivery schedule or income

projections or disturbance

from external unplanned

events)


Enhanced enterprise value
(favourable community
reputation)

Projects that respect and
enhance place (strengthening
the sense of community)


Projects that respond to
community needs (completing
communities, closing market
gaps and enhancing livability)


Projects that create
community wealth (and keep
more of it in the community)


Projects that promote
sustainability (repurpose,
reuse, reduce)

Investment strategies that
align with municipal policy
objectives (development form,
mobility, social improvement,
and environmental quality)


Investment strategies that
harness the creativity of private
sector developers and investors
(leveraging innovation)


Investment strategies that
promote financial
sustainability (adding to the
tax base, not the tax burden)