Executive summary
- To provide Council with an overview of the status of the Park Provisioning Master Plan and an insight into what to expect as a final deliverable, this Council report ES-05-22 contains a summary of work to date included as Appendix A – Park Provisioning Master Plan Progress Report.
- This progress report provides a summary of background context and analysis completed to date. Further analysis and refinement will continue and be incorporated into the final document.
- This progress report includes a summary of the legislative context guiding parkland acquisition within the City of Burlington and outlines existing challenges and opportunities such as parcel fragmentation and changing trends that influence parkland dedication and acquisition.
- Parkland service level comparisons across 18 different Canadian municipalities have been included in this report. The municipalities provide a cross section of locations across the Greater Toronto Area, Ontario and Canada.
- The parkland supply methodology and service level sections outline different methods to calculate parkland service levels and the components of the proposed parkland dedication methodology.
- The proposed methodology focuses on parkland walkability, functions to assess the requirement of parkland dedication, and several additional contextual metrics to consider.
- By testing different methodologies within different contexts, it will be possible to create a unique set of criteria for different geographic areas of Burlington. This progress report also introduces functional analysis assessment as a method to help determine parkland dedication as well as potential recreational needs.
- A review of Burlington’s parks classification system is included along with preliminary changes to the parks classification system with consideration given to the anticipated growth and redevelopment of the City. New park classification types are proposed to be more reflective of increased urban growth as forecast to 2041.
- Overall, this progress report provides a preliminary analysis of current service levels for review. Feedback received will be used to refine a parkland acquisition methodology.
Climate implications
- Burlington City Council declared a climate emergency in April 2019 in response to concerns about the impact that a changing climate is having on the City and communities around the globe. On April 20, 2020 Council approved a Climate Action Plan which provides a framework to reduce the use of fossil fuels in the community, the main contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, which are causes of climate change.
- The Climate Action Plan focuses on the following key areas: low-carbon new buildings, deep energy retrofits for existing buildings, renewable energy, electric mobility and equipment, integrated mobility, waste reduction and industry innovation.
- Parks mitigate the urban heat island effect, improve air quality, and absorb carbon from the atmosphere. They support local biodiversity, can act as buffer zones for flooding and are important environmental infrastructure.
- New urban parks are also important because they provide the foundation of urban forests, which can help Burlington both mitigate carbon emissions and adapt to a changing climate.