The 2006 CCA Master’s Students Program invited candidates to propose a historical, theoretical or critical research project on the topic of sustainable development as it relates to architecture and the city. Participants undertook a collaborative research project that resulted in the online publication Montréal: Sustainable Development, which traces the genealogy of sustainable development, offers a portrait of the city of Montréal, and provides three distinct perspectives of sustainable development in Montréal. Participants present their research:

Intensification for growth, a priority to a pedestrian perspective, and urbanisme végétal may all be part of a sustainable Montréal. None of these themes were thought of as solutions unto themselves. The very notion of sustainable development necessarily implies solutions and views which reach beyond boundaries of single viewpoints, disciplines, categories, and even scales. In the end, the necessary vagueness of the term sustainable development is its strength, as this is what allows it to breach these boundaries.

Edward J. Martin
University of Waterloo, Canada

Catherine Vandermeulen
McGill University, Canada

Nancy Wilson
University of Toronto, Canada