Downtown Calgary safety project wins national planning award for implementation focus
Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design initiative recognized by Alberta Professional Planners Institute for moving beyond recommendations to real improvements.
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The City of Calgary's Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) initiative has received national recognition from the Alberta Professional Planners Institute for its focus on implementation rather than recommendations alone.
Led by Calgary in partnership with design firm DIALOG, the project examined 10 downtown locations and engaged businesses, community organizations, and city teams to identify safety challenges and develop solutions. Lighting enhancements, safety infrastructure, and other improvements are already underway or complete at these sites.
Darshan Tailor, Business Strategist with The City of Calgary, said in a statement: "This recognition reflects the incredible collaboration behind the project. Businesses, community organizations, City teams and technical experts all contributed their knowledge and experience. Together, we developed practical solutions that are helping create safer public spaces."
The APPI awards recognize planning excellence and innovation across Canada. The project's distinguishing feature was its partnership approach—rather than producing a shelf report, the team shaped implementation-focused action plans with measurable improvements already in motion.
What is the total cost of the Downtown Safety Project and improvements?
What is the timeline for completing improvements at all 10 locations?
Which specific downtown locations were examined in the study?
We'll update this story as answers emerge.
The facts
What is the CPTED initiative in Calgary?
Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) is a City of Calgary project led in partnership with design firm DIALOG that examined 10 downtown locations to identify safety challenges and develop solutions, with lighting enhancements and safety infrastructure improvements already underway or complete at these sites.
Who recognized Calgary's CPTED project?
The Alberta Professional Planners Institute recognized the CPTED initiative with a national planning award for its focus on implementation rather than recommendations alone.
