Edmonton city councillors have approved guidelines that will see the 217-hectares (536-acres) redeveloped into a place to work and play for 25,000 or 30,000 residents. This week, the city is to announce the design firms they’ve chosen as finalists to shepherd the transformation and create a master plan for the site.

Each of up to five of them will receive $25,000 to submit design proposals in October. A winner will be announced in November.

“This is one of the largest projects ever undertaken by our city,” Mayor Stephen Mandel says. “We want this to be a world-leading, environmentally-friendly community that is integrated with light rail transit and offers residents a range of lifestyles while minimizing their ecological footprint. We want creative ideas, designs, and foresight for this development.”

Mandel says the city is aiming to combine local expertise and international experience to “bring their best ideas to the table.” As far as design approach goes, he’s expressed a preference for narrow roads, small yards, multi-family and row homes, limited parking and proximity to LRT to reduce dependency on automobiles.

In short, a back-to-the-future approach that Edmonton used to great success in its formative years, with public transit, streetcars, compact and walkable neighbourhoods and diverse communities. And one that is now back in favour with smart urban developments around the world.

Austin, Texas is transforming the 711-acre site of the Robert Mueller Municipal Airport, closed in 1999, into a mixed-use urban village in the heart of the city. The first residents moved in late 2007. Mueller, as it called, is planned as a sustainable community for 10,000 residents in nearly 4,600 single-family, condo and apartment homes, with at least a quarter of them reserved for families who qualify for affordable housing.

The award-winning master plan has been designed according to transit-oriented and pedestrian-friendly “new urbanist” principles. It includes more than 140 acres of parks and perimeter greenways, and five miles of new bike and hike paths.

The community contains a town centre with shops, plazas and live/work spaces planned to include at least 30% locally-owned businesses. When it’s complete, there will also be 4.2 million square feet of non-residential development with 650,000 square feet of retail.

Built on the site of Denver’s former Stapleton International Airport, Stapleton ranks as one of the largest urban infill projects in the United States. The 4,700-acres of former runways and airport facilities, closed in 1995, are home to more than 3,500 single-family homes, and more than 480 apartment units. In total, Stapleton is now home to nearly 10,000 residents.

Like Mueller, it eschews conventional suburban models that contribute to urban sprawl and instead integrates the very best features of traditional city life with a network of open spaces, parks, schools, and community centres. About 2 million square feet of retail and office spaces create a true live/work environment.

Stapleton’s residents enjoy walkable, tree-lined streets connecting homes to nearby offices, shops, schools and parks. Nearly 30% of Stapleton is dedicated to open and green space promoting outdoor activity and health. Initiatives designed to make the community more sustainable include the planting of more than 26,000 trees and completion of an 80-acre park called Central Park.

The community’s 81 miles of sidewalk are being constructed from material salvaged and recycled from the airport’s old runways. In all, the project has recycled 200,000 tons of asphalt from the runways and old parking lots, and turned it into sidewalks, roadways, bridges, pathways and bike paths.

The redevelopment of Edmonton’s City Centre Airport lands is something I never thought I would see in my lifetime. The airport began life in 1929 as Blatchford Field, the first licensed airstrip in Canada. It played a key role in the 1940s as part of the wartime British Commonwealth Air Training Plan.

The city boomed with the discovery of oil near Leduc in 1947, and aviation travel increased dramatically, propelling the need for longer runways and more space for airport buildings. The Edmonton International Airport opened in 1963, and became a hub for most major airlines flying in and out of Alberta.

As the city grew around it, the municipal airport became ever more in the way of the efficient land movement of goods and people. In 1995, Edmontonians voted in a referendum to consolidate passenger service at the International Airport. Last summer, city council decided to begin closing the airport for good.

The proposals for a master plan for the site are being assessed by a panel of 10 experts, and once a winner is selected this fall, work will begin on construction of new infrastructure likely in 2012. City manager Simon Farbrother says tests so far have indicated ground contamination shouldn’t be an insurmountable problem, but the design plans will take into consideration any environmental impacts left by the airport.

One of the two runways is scheduled to close next month. A date for full and final closure of the airport, which could be up to a decade away, will be determined by city council with input from the Edmonton Regional Airport Authority.

Edmonton is about to enter an exciting new phase of its history. The utilization of the City Centre Airport lands will play a pivotal role in the way Edmonton grows and functions over the next 30 to 40 years.