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On October 15, a city council committee will vote on whether or not to put the brakes on Calgary’s sprawling expansion and steer the city’s growth in a more sustainable direction.

Proponents of the plan — called Plan It Calgary — say it’s a change that’s overdue. The plan would slow urban sprawl and shift much of the city’s growth to existing neighbourhoods, integrating new developments with improved transit, walking and cycling infrastructure. “Right now, 100 per cent of our growth is going to the edges,” says Patricia Gordon, the Plan It project manager. “So we want to see more growth at really strategic places on the inside.”

The seven aldermen on the Land Use, Planning and Transportation Committee will vote on whether or not to approve eight “key directions” laid out in the plan. (Council as a whole would later need to approve the directions before they could be put into action.) The directions include linking land use decisions to transit and increasing mobility choices for Calgarians, as well as balancing growth in established and new communities and building a mix of housing types. “This is about positioning ourselves to be a viable, vibrant sustainable city long into the future, and not a city that will simply be a relic of the oil age,” says Byron Miller, director of the University of Calgary’s urban studies program. He adds that Plan It Calgary isn’t perfect, but it’s a step in the right direction.

The city expects a population increase of 1.3 million over the next five to seven decades, and Lloyd Sotas, a resident of Hidden Valley in the city’s northwest, says it’s important for Calgary to be “proactive” in shifting to smarter growth before this happens. Sotas commutes from the northwest community on a bicycle but says most people in Hidden Valley drive everywhere they go — and the quality of life is directly affected. “People have no time to volunteer because they’re stressed from being in cars,” says Sotas, who’s the vice-president of community affairs for the Hidden Valley Community Association.

Not everyone, however, is thrilled with the plan. The city’s development industry has warned that it could reduce housing choices and affordability for Calgarians. “Sustainable development should not come at the expense of limited housing options,” says a response to Plan It from the Calgary division of the Canadian Home Builders’ Association. “Most Calgarians aspire to own a detached single family home, which many individuals have achieved due in large part to greenfield development.” (“Greenfield development” refers to land that previously had no buildings on it.) Developers have also argued that Plan It focuses too much on the inner city to the neglect of outer communities.

Ald. Druh Farrell says she’s not convinced by developers’ arguments. “The homebuilders would like to have unfettered growth, and that’s what we’ve had in the past — and that’s why we have the spreading city that we do,” she says. “We have learned that that’s a very costly way to build and maintain a city, and I don’t see them coming forward and offering to share those costs.” Farrell doesn’t believe consumer choice should trump good planning. “I believe in choice,” says Farrell. “I also believe in consequences. What we have done since the beginning of Calgary is shield people from the consequences of their choices.”

Noel Keough, founder of Sustainable Calgary, is similarly unconvinced by developers’ arguments. “One of their bottom lines is that ‘we think the market should make all these decisions,’” says Keough. “We think that’s totally crazy. Public policy is what should be making these decisions — and then the market (should operate) within the framework of public policy.” Sustainable Calgary wants to see the city go even further than what’s proposed in Plan It Calgary. “The key directions are fine, but they’re generic,” Keough says. “We want to see outcomes. The plan should result in a city where you don’t have to own a car.” The city shouldn’t approve developments, says Keough, unless it can guarantee that community will be serviced by quality public transit.

Gordon says that if Plan It Calgary is implemented, most people in Calgary will still have cars. “We’ll just use them less if we can find a way to move people more efficiently in a different form,” she says.