Regent Park is getting revitalized! And going green! The publicly funded neighbourhood is over 50 years old and definitely showing its age - thus the renovation plans.

But this sort of project is exactly the kind of thing many developers (and funders - especially where there is public money) try to do on the cheap side. Or at least what's cheap in the short run. So my ears certainly perked up when I saw that Toronto Community Housing and Corix utilities have partnered to bring green energy to Regent Park.

Over at The Environmental Age they've got a thorough summary of all the green elements, but the gist of it is that Regent Park will enjoy high efficiency heating and cooling thanks to a mix of cogeneration (you make electricity and useful heat at the same time!), solar and geothermal in the future.

The eight page summary (pdf) of the revitalization project makes the case for the project and the vision (in part) "of vibrancy, diversity and sustainability - in building types, designs and heights, incomes, uses, community services, recreation spaces, learning facilities and activities."

It will be interesting to see, as new condos go up so close to downtown, how popular this community is and how easy it will be to maintain economic diversity as well as an ethnic one. But it's nice to know that there is a firm plan for how to implement that "sustainability" part of the vision.

Map from the Regent Park Plan.