Thoughts on Montreal

Thoughts on Montreal

Montreal was definitely one of the most well-planned cities of North America. Due to the completion of the landmark Place Ville-Marie project, it has attained considerable attention as a model for future urban design. A decision which has heavily influenced urban planning in recent times is creation of free space to provide a public plaza. Another concept to be kept in mind while designing such megaprojects is to take into account the daily traffic the site can endure- Place Ville-Marie did this by creating a network of highways and subway routes. Other evolutionary ideas include: segregating traffic into different modes by vertical levels and giving importance to local business environment by creating a relationship of interdependence on them. These ideas can be said to be followed now by almost all major megaprojects around the world.

And yet, it has its share of drawbacks. What can we learn from its mistakes? It must be identifiable to the public as both a plaza as well as a commercial building. Place Ville-Marie doesn't do that (and so does Metrotech in my opinion). While the intentions behind creating such a plaza are good, it is very uninviting for the public. The most revolutionary design change to be implemented in Montreal though was creation of an underground business district. Such planning led to better integration of these units with the existing business scenario. As for every megaproject, a hierarchy of transport networks was needed for them to be viable. An important question which must be answered for every upcoming city is: is the whole greater than the sum its parts? Let us wait and watch regarding other projects.