Lakeview Generating Station near Toronto, Canada was a polluting coal plant for many years. The government shut it down in 2005, and initially planned to replace it with a gas-fired power plant. But the local community protested this idea, and pushed instead for the 70 hectare site to become something cleaner and more meaningful. Developers are now reimagining it to become a sustainable community called Lakeview Village. The plan is to build a ‘15-minute’ city, which is an urban planning concept that puts core needs close together, so that residents can walk or bike to anything they need in 15 minutes or less.









The new village will create homes for an estimated 20,000 people and provide about 9,000 jobs. It will have a new metro station, retail stores and a beautiful natural park with a revived stream. The focus on sustainability includes a centralized heating network that uses heat from the local wastewater treatment centre. There will also be an innovative vacuum system that will automatically collect all waste, recycling, and compostable materials for delivery to a central processing facility. The project is expected to be fully developed and ready for residents to move in by 2026.