Building heights of three to 13 storeys will create an urban ambiance, provide variety and choice for housing and leisure activities, and create sufficient density to justify public transit services. The master plan locates uses where they will best benefit from their surroundings, such as the business park adjacent to Highway 407 and residential neighbourhoods overlooking the Rouge Valley.

The site is effectively divided into quadrants by Birchmount Road and Enterprise Boulevard. The grid of local streets further organizes the project into distinct neighbourhoods or districts. The street system is complemented by an extensive interconnected parks and open space system, including the Civic Mall that serves as an east-west spine connecting residential neighbourhoods to the mixed-use core. Blocks are arranged so that the height and density of buildings increases closer to the core.

The parks and opens space system incorporates a comprehensive pedestrian network that connects to every area of Downtown Markham, at the same time providing constantly changing views and vistas to the Rouge Valley, other natural features or landmarks and significant buildings. The pedestrian network is meant to provide minimal walking distances to key locations. {See Pedestrian Routes Map}

Public spaces, including sidewalks and open areas, are designed to meld seamlessly with private spaces. Private space, such as entry plazas or forecourts to apartment or office buildings, are designed to be open to view, providing visual diversity.

Neighbourhoods and districts will have their own character, derived from building form and local public amenities.

Rigorous massing, siting and setbacks of buildings will create “street walls” that will provide continuity and enclosure, giving streets a sense of being outdoor rooms. Some flexibility will be introduced through building facades that undulate thanks to entry plazas or forecourts at their principal entrance.

While most buildings will be placed close to the street, some setbacks will be more generous where opportunities exist to take advantage of natural features, such as those buildings in the market district to enhance the feel and size of Market Square.

Corner sites are reserved for signature buildings that will accentuate and acknowledge the intersection. There will be an ample buffer between all buildings and the Rouge Valley.

Office and retail buildings will be friendly and inviting at street level with prominent and obvious entrances. Vehicular entry to buildings in the core will be designed with care to minimize disruption to pedestrians, and will normally be place on rear laneways or secondary roads.

Downtown Markham features two prominent view corridors. The Civic Mall visually connects Warden Avenue to the Unionville GO Station at Kennedy Road. A north-south view corridor connects Village Green, the Civic Square and the Rouge Valley.

Great attention has been paid to the streetscape design throughout Downtown Markham to balance the needs of motorists with the desires of residents for safe, convenient pedestrian access to their homes and community’s many amenities and facilities. For example, street parking is provided throughout the core in locations as close as possible to final destinations, a benefit to drivers and pedestrians.

A hierarchy of streets, from the bustling Enterprise Boulevard to the narrowest side street, is based on anticipated traffic volumes and preferred speed. Generous use of public transit is accommodated throughout Downtown Markham, including provision for a future rapid transit route.

Walking and cycling are encouraged through dedicated and attractive pedestrian and bicycle networks. While cycling is possible anywhere in Downtown Markham, exclusive routes or routes shared with cars are planned along the Civic Mall and most of the streets north of Enterprise Boulevard.