Northcrest Developments has officially launched a global design competition for The Runway at YZD in Toronto. This site was formerly home to the historic Downsview Airport. The Runway at YZD Design Competition will challenge cross-disciplinary design teams to transform the historic 2-kilometer (1.3-mile) airstrip into a central feature of the future mixed-use communities planned for the expansive 370-acre site.
The Runway at YZD is designed to be a unique outdoor experience—a continuous, pedestrian-friendly corridor that will serve as a public destination, attracting visitors from around the globe to enjoy its creative public spaces and diverse programming. The former airstrip will connect the seven complete communities at YZD and will be vibrant with community activities, public amenities, and recreational opportunities for the 55,000 residents and 23,000 workers who will eventually live and work at the site, as well as many additional visitors each year.
For more than 100 years, the Downsview Airport has been a test airstrip, military base, and centre for aerospace manufacturing and innovation. Bombardier sold it in 2018 and formally handed it over to lead developer Northcrest this past spring. One of the largest and most ambitious transformations in North America, YZD will critically stitch these industrial lands back into the city of Toronto. In tandem with the reimagining of The Runway, Northcrest is advancing its District Plan for its first neighbourhood, The Hangar District.
The Runway at YZD Design Competition will task design teams with developing a holistic set of design guidelines for The Runway. Critical to the ongoing redevelopment at YZD, these guidelines will shape the future of The Runway and inform how it connects and interacts with the site’s neighbourhoods, all while becoming a landmark outdoor experience that stands as an international example of placemaking and innovation in adaptively reusing industrial infrastructure.
Award-winning urban designer, city-building advocate, and author Ken Greenberg will chair the competition jury, alongside other accomplished design, development and placemaking experts.
The competition will consist of two phases. In phase one, design teams will submit Expressions of Interest. In phase two, Northcrest Developments will issue Requests for Proposals to shortlisted teams. Once selected by the jury, the winning team will begin work on The Runway Design guidelines in July-September 2025.
Find out more about the competition at https://www.yzd.ca/runwaydesign
World Landscape Architecture does not endorse this design competition and is not involved in the organisation of the design competition. Please contact the organisers through the website link above.
