Residents and experts come together to define vocation for Avenue McGill College

The design concept for the future Avenue McGill College recently reached a new stage. In February and March, residents and experts took part in a positioning exercise to imagine what the future avenue could be like and reflect on its vocation.

The activities were created and led by NewCities, a Montréal-based international non-profit organization, whose mission includes assembling and mobilizing communities around big urban challenges.

Co-creation days

On February 28 and March 1, some 40 local and international experts came together to develop new positioning for Avenue McGill College. By using the overarching themes that arose from the public consultation and other studies, they worked together to define the vocation of this public space by thinking about its users and the services and activities that should be offered. They also considered changing lifestyles, especially our work, study and travel habits, as well as how complementary the future space could be with other public spaces downtown.

Morning for residents

On March 2, some 125 Montréal residents joined experts to continue their work, looking at the positioning that was developed earlier and discussing each proposal from their point of view in order to improve and enrich them.

At the end of these three days, participants had developed four positioning proposals. The city will select one proposal out of the four, taking conclusions of studies and public consultation results into account. The selected proposal will be used to create the functional and technical development program for the future Avenue McGill College, with a view to launching an international design contest in fall 2019.

The positioning exercise is part of the vast design process the city has implemented to create a future Avenue McGill College that meets residents’ expectations and is worthy of one of the world’s loveliest downtown areas.