As changing work and migration patterns have turned the tide of demographic trends in Atlantic Canada, how do cities and towns manage unprecedented development and growth? Atlantic municipalities need to rethink their planning approaches. New questions are emerging as part of this process: when urban areas are projected to double their population, does this mean the urban footprint also needs to double? Routine reviews of planning documents are not always suitable to form a big-picture vision for development on a municipal scale. As a result, a new form of planning documents have been on the rise: growth plans and strategies. UPLAND had the opportunity to work with several municipalities across Atlantic Canada on such growth documents. We share project experience from the Charlottetown (PE) Growth Management Strategy, the Dieppe (NB) Urban Growth Strategy, and the Stephenville (NL) Municipal Growth Plan and present these examples as case studies.
