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Our Communities
Land use in the Urban Area
Over the last three years, the Task Force has heard a great number of people express concerns about the quality and type of urban development occurring in Hamilton-Wentworth (now the City of Hamilton). Current development is seen by many citizens as unattractive, destructive of landscape character, wasteful of limited resources, and lacking in a sense of community.
 The urban community described in Vision 2020 is a more compact and diverse community than exists today. It is recognized that pressures to increase Hamilton-Wentworth's population will continue; and for new development, the isssue of concern is the direction, size and form that this will take. The existing trend of urban sprawl is costly to the environment, and financially in the provision of government services. The encouragement of a more compact and diverse urban form will:
- Allow the urban area to grow in population without taking up additional land, in particular agricultural land and natural areas;
- Reduce servicing and maintenance costs for the municipality, developer and resident;
- Allow the development of more effective, efficient and affordable public transit system;
- Result in a more socially connected lifestyle;
- Make walking and bicycling more viable transportation options; and
- Require less energy for space heating with higher density housing.
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Goals:
- To encourage development which makes efficient use of new and existing infrastructure and services.
- To minimize the environmental, social and financial costs of new development to the residents of Hamilton-Wentworth.
- To minimize urban sprawl, the encroachment on rural and agricultural lands and commuting distances.
- To encourage and facilitate the everyday use of alternative modes of transportation, such as, walking, bicycling, and public transit.
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