Improve the quality of existing living environments

Living environments in Montréal are generally of high quality, diversified and complete. As they are almost entirely built up, most of these environments do not require major interventions. However, the City has identified a number of actions pertaining to the maintenance and improvement of their quality.

In order to set guidelines for the interventions aimed at increasing the quality of existing and future living environments, the City proposes a series of criteria which are described in the Montréal Living Environments Charter.

The City's actions will revolve around the following themes:

Urban revitalization;
The maintenance and adaptation of the building stock;
The development of public and private green spaces;
The consolidation of commercial streets, strips and centres;
The improvement of public services and facilities.

In addition to these interventions, actions relating to other themes such as public transit and employment areas are presented in Objectives 3, 8 and 9 respectively.

Many residential neighbourhoods are subject to nuisances that reduce the quality of life of their residents. For example, the peace and quiet of residents can be disrupted by heavy traffic on local roads. Objective 18 outlines the different methods that the City intends to use to minimize the impacts of such nuisances.

Montréal living environments charter

The Master Plan identifies ten criteria for evaluating the quality of Montréal’s living environments:

A varied range of housing units, covering a range of types and prices, that meet the profile and specific needs of Montréal households, in order to promote social harmony;
High-quality architecture that serves to improve the built heritage and enrich the urban landscape as well as enhance the identity of boroughs;
A healthy and ecologically-sound habitat, linking air quality with energy efficiency;
Comfortable, safe and universally accessible public spaces that promote pedestrian and bicycle travel and include vegetation;
A quality living and urban environment that ensures the safety, well-being and tranquility of residents and promotes individual development and social harmony;
Public spaces and parks that help to enrich the quality of the urban environment, provide access to green and natural spaces and meet the needs of all age groups, by encouraging the practice of sports, relaxation and outdoor activities;
Real estate projects incorporating natural features of interest in order to protect and enhance them and to enrich the living environments;
Neighbourhood stores, services and public facilities that meet local needs and are accessible on foot;
An emphasis on public transportation supported by adequate service, ease of access and sufficient density and diversity of uses in the vicinity of the major points of entry to the public transportation network;
Diversified employment that is harmoniously integrated into living environments.