In 2019, I identified some of Calgary’s biggest urban planning mistakes and missed opportunities over the past 50 years for “Live Wire” an online local news publication. So to be fair, in 2020 I will highlight some of Calgary’s best urban planning decisions made in the last half of the 20th century for “Live Wire.” And I’ll do this by profiling one success story each month.

Link: Live Wire: Calgary Planning Mistakes and Missed Opportunities

Calgary could have evolved into 15 different municipalities over the past 50+ years..

Unicity Advantage

Back in 1954, Calgary and Edmonton City Councils were struggling with how best to manage their city’s future growth. At the time, Calgary’s population was 170,000 and Bowness, Montgomery and Forest Lawn were all independent towns.

So, the Province initiated a Royal Commission lead by George McNally, a retired Deputy Minister of Education with the goal being to determine the best governance model to manage the future growth of both cities.

After two years of research and consultation, McNally concluded (a) It is unjust and inequitable that wide variations in the tax base should exist among the local governing bodies that comprise a metropolitan area where that area is in fact one economic and social unit and (b) A metropolitan area which is in fact one economic and social unit can ordinarily be more efficiently and effectively governed by one central municipal authority than by a multiplicity of local governing bodies.

The McNally Report stated the best form of governance for Calgary would be achieved through one central municipal authority, with Bowness, Montgomery and Forest Lawn, as well as other surrounding lands, being annexed over a seven-year period.

This 2013 image from space by Chris Hadfield illustrates how Calgary’s growth has been continuous around its downtown with only few small edge cities.

Mid Century Annexation

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Forest Lawn and Midnapore subsequently were annexed in 1961, Montgomery in 1963 and Bowness in 1964. So, by 1964, Calgary’s population had grown to 280,000 and the city had grown from 130 square kilometers to 407 square kilometers.

Calgary continued to annex land at the city’s edge for the next 50 years, including the town of Beddington in 1975 and more recently, the town of Shepard in 2007.

As a result, Calgary grew to a whopping 825 square kilometers encompassing 200+ neighbourhoods.

FYI: Edmonton decided not to proceed with McNally’s recommended annexations.

While Bowness, Midnapore, Montgomery and Bowness were allowed to keep their name, they became part of what is today one of the largest unicities in North America governed by a single Mayor and Council.

Metro Calgary has only a few edge cities with none over 100,000.

For the past 50+ years Calgary’s growth has been more or less continuous, from the city centre. While a few edge towns and cities surround Calgary – Airdire, Okotoks, Cochrane, Chestermere and Strathmore - Calgary’s growth has not been fragmented like most North American cities.

Take Metro Vancouver for example. It consists of 21 different municipalities, each with its own Mayor, Council and administration. Each has their own planning, parks, recreation, social and emergency departments. They all compete with each other for economic development and tourists. The planning and management of regional roads, water, sewer and transit becomes much more difficult when you have to get several jurisdictions to work together.

Metro Vancouver is made up of several major cities with a population over 100,000.

Growth #10 to #4

In contrast, Calgary’s unicity planning model fostered the creation of a single attractive downtown that has been the City’s economic engine for the past 50 years. It is home to one of the top ten largest concentrations of office towers in North America. Today, Calgary’s downtown has more office space than Houston, Dallas or Denver as their downtown has to compete with edge cities for major corporate head offices. FYI: Their downtown office vacancy rates are currently 27, 26 and 17% respectively (source: Cushman & Wakefield). Today Downtown Calgary has ranks #7 for downtown office space in North America.

Calgary has also been a leader when it comes to innovative suburban and infill development. Mackenzie Town was one of the first new urbanism suburban communities in North America. Lake Bonavista was Canada’s first lake community. Canada Lands’ Garrison Woods was an innovative inner city infill development and the City of Calgary’s Bridges and East Village were ambitious city centre infill developments.

Calgary’s suburban malls are still healthy with few vacancies and evolving with the changing consumer expectations; this is not the case in many cities. Our city centre, inner city and suburban communities are safe, attractive, growing and also evolving to meet 21st century expectations.

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Calgary was also an early adopter of light rapid transit in 1981, long before Vancouver and other major North American cities. Ottawa is just getting LRT now. Today Calgary has the second largest LRT ridership in North America after Guadalajara, Mexico.

In the early ‘50s, Edmonton, Ottawa, Winnipeg, London and Hamilton, all had populations larger than Calgary’s and thriving downtowns.

It is also home to one of the largest performing arts complexes in North America, biggest recreation centers, best library system and extensive park systems under one jurisdiction. Today, Calgary’s population has surpassed all of them and despite Calgary’s economic downturn, our downtown and suburbs are thriving in comparison to these cities.