David Dixon Joins Opening Plenary Panel at Canadian Real Estate Forum
Updated: 10 hours ago
Dixon shared an urban planning perspective on downtown resilience, economic vitality, and the future of real estate, exploring how walkable, mixed-use communities can attract investment and respond to changing needs.
David Dixon, FAIA, was invited to bring his experience in planning downtowns and urban districts (for cities and suburbs alike) to the Opening Plenary at the Canadian Real Estate Forum in Toronto, Ontario, on November 30, 2022.
Speaking to 2,700 developers, builders, community leaders, and public officials, Dixon joined the Forum’s opening plenary panel. His message? Despite pandemic-induced pessimism, developers face 20 years of unparalleled urban opportunity—driven by demand for housing in walkable, mixed-use places. And across North America, housing now represents roughly two-thirds of the real estate economy.
Examining the Return of Downtown Vitality
Much of the discussion focused on the progress of post-pandemic recovery. The verdict? Cities are recovering, but they are also changing, particularly downtowns. Dixon notes that, for downtowns, the post-pandemic recovery did not resemble the recovery that followed the Great Recession.
“Downtown is no longer a place of obligation—whether we are talking about a city, a suburb or a town. But it has immense potential to emerge as the destination of choice. What do we need to do? Transform downtowns into lively places to live, work, play, and gather.” — David Dixon, FAIA
A Collaborative Approach to Recovery and Beyond
The Opening Plenary provided an opportunity to speak to the wide diversity of attendees—elected and appointed provincial and local officials, developers and builders, investors, community leaders—to talk about the value of working together: a city-led plan that engages developers and community leaders alike can create bold visions to guide development that moves faster because it enjoys community support—including for public investment to close financing gaps.
