General goals

Quartier des spectacles

• Enhance and support venues that promote cultural production, creation and events in harmony with residential and commercial activities
• Support real estate development
• Consolidate residential activity in Faubourg Saint-Laurent
• Support the retail vitality of Rue Sainte-Catherine
• Improve the design of public spaces

Planning issues

The Quartier des spectacles is home to many of Montréal’s venues for cultural creation, production and events. It is located in a diversified area that borders institutional, residential and retail uses. This concentration of cultural activity is a major asset for the vitality of the area and Montréal’s profile. However, this poses various constraints on residential development projects and the design of public spaces.

The overall quality of the Quartier des spectacles is diminished by the presence of a number of vacant or parking lots. The development of these lots, especially those on Rue Sainte-Catherine, would give the Quartier des spectacles a coherence that it currently lacks. However, this development must take into consideration the requirements of outdoor events and reserve open space for public purposes. In this respect, two new public spaces will be created over the next few years: Place des Festivals and Place Eugène-Lapierre. Also, the Gesù parking lot will be converted into a green space.

Faubourg Saint-Laurent, at the heart of the Quartier des spectacles, is still closely identified with marginality. In many ways, it projects a destructured image and residential activity has had difficulty taking hold. Nevertheless, housing development would be the best way to revitalize the Faubourg. The influx of new residents would be beneficial to the retail activity on Rue Sainte-Catherine, which connects the Quartier Latin to Place des Arts by making the street busier, safer and more pleasant to visit.

The character of Boulevard Saint-Laurent is emblematic of Montréal, underlined by its designation as a National Historic Site by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada. Nonetheless, certain segments of Boulevard Saint-Laurent are somewhat destructured and its built form lacks coherence. The quality of public space design and the maintenance of buildings throughout the Quartier des spectacles both warrant improvement, which will contribute to an increased conviviality for pedestrians and transit users.