How can we co-locate community facilities (school, recreation, childcare, etc) under one roof?  How can we deliver facilities in the heart of communities, in tandem with real estate development, so that residents can walk to services from day-one?  How can we structure the timing of community infrastructure funds to increase fiscal resources, real estate value, and community outcome?

Join ULI's Curtis Infrastructure Initiative and global leaders in infrastructure and development to explore innovative ways to deliver holistic, joint-use community infrastructure in transit-oriented, walkable communities.  Learn about how public sector and private sector leaders make mixed-use facilities happen. This event will cover: 

•  How to align vision to empower innovation mindset within stakeholders

• How to integrate community infrastructure to benefit young families and the aging population in urban multi-family mixed-use neighborhoods

• How to build a lifelong learning culture to address global challenges, and raise economic competitiveness

• How to leverage US and Canada’s historic government investments to build community infrastructure in transit-oriented walkable communities over the next the 7 years

The webinar features transit-oriented community facilities from

• Kalasatama in Helsinki, Finland

• Canoe Landing in Toronto, Canada

Speakers and moderators:

Marjo Kyllönen, Director of Development, City of Helsinki, Finland

Paul Stevens, Senior Principal, ZAS Architects

William Anderson, Principal CITECON, Lecturer of University of California, San Diego (moderator)

Craig Lewis, Principal, CallisonRTKL, ULI Curtis Infrastructure Global Advisory Board Chair (moderator)

Yvonne Yeung, CEO, SDG Strategies, ULI Curtis Infrastructure Fellow (host and moderator)

In North America, multi-family apartment occupancy has doubled since 2000.  In 2023, millennial families hold the largest household size of 3.4 people, where half of them are renting units in apartments.  Currently, half of the households are headed by people aged 50+, with 9 in 10 do not have access to senior care and 3 in 4 do not have access to childcare.  Many of the population were born in another country, mostly from places that do not require driving.  Adapting to the auto-centric culture has created affordability and quality of life issues for millions of households over the past century.

Looking forward, 1 in 3 people are working from home.  Millennial families and seniors are relocating to mixed-use urban places with walkable convenience, which triggered hundreds of central business districts, suburban malls, and commercial corridors to undertake massive zoning reform.  Transforming these places into urban, sustainable, ‘live-in’ mixed-use districts.  Filled with compact, walkable, transit-oriented communities with millions of multifamily units, including affordable and rental.  This raises the demand for metropolitan regions and cities to rapidly integrate community infrastructure into these places.  Providing residents with walkable access to childcare, elementary schools, senior care, health care, social and cultural services from the outset.

In Finland, Helsinki adopted the vision of 'the most functional city in the world.'  Its development model centers on 'building community facilities first' in the heart of urban, multi-family, walkable mixed-use communities.  The whole city is structured for experiential learning enabled by well-coordinated public transportation and all-ages friendly bikeways and tree-lined streets.  Indoor and outdoor community infrastructure functions as 'activity centers' for developing new skills, exchanging knowledge and innovative solutions to tackle global challenges. This approach has enabled young families, seniors, and newcomers to integrate quickly into communities.   Becoming part of a lifelong learning culture that achieved multi-generational cohesion and a top record of education success globally.  To sustain resources and quality, community infrastructure is funded by strategic public investments that provide recurring capital and operational funds. 

In Canada, Toronto is the 4th most livable city in the world and the fastest-growing tech hub in North America.  Fueled by a diverse talent pool of newcomers and millennial families, this growing population desires urban lifestyle and living close to work.  Currently, 80% of housing are in multi-family apartments and 1 in 6 people are seniors.  Progressive land use policies and delivery practices have enabled the city to plan and deliver co-located community infrastructure for joint use in urban, walkable communities.  This approach reduced building footprint, land consumption, and improved the utilization of funds to deliver high-quality indoor and outdoor facilities for people of all ages.  The model also fostered partnerships among public agencies, various levels of government, non-profit and real estate communities.  Had become a leading example to enable urban, walkable mixed-use communities for ‘Aging Up.’

If you have questions about the ULI InfraXchange or FY’23 Curtis Infrastructure Program, please reach out to Yvonne Yeung, ULI Curtis Infrastructure Fellow at [email protected] or 647-466-1176.  To get involve, join us at https: www.uli.org/infrastructure.