The awards reflect the community’s commitment to quality and innovation in city building.

Every five years, the City of Vaughan invites urban designers, architects, landscape architects, planners, engineers, developers, contractors, landowners and the general public to submit projects for consideration for the Vaughan Urban Design Awards. Submissions were accepted from May to September 2022.

Since the inception of the Vaughan Urban Design Awards in 2008, 36 projects have been awarded.

Planting Trees on City-owned Boulevard
Some residents may prefer not to wait for the City to replace the tree on the City-owned boulevard in front of their property or may want a larger tree.

A process is in place to accommodate these requests and is based on meeting the following criteria:

The liveability of Vaughan is directly related to our natural systems, the public realm, and walkable and bikeable streets. The Urban Design and Cultural Heritage Division advances the vision, goals and objectives of the City's Official Plan with an emphasis on people and the experience of place. The following urban design policies and guidelines are applied during the urban design evaluation of proposals through the development application process

Through a new Council-endorsed Tree Maintenance Strategy, every City-owned street tree will now be pruned at seven-year intervals.

Technical Reference Manual

The Urban Design Guidelines are supported by the following technical reference materials that contain relevant design details, guidelines and Terms of Reference for reports and studies that are required as part of a complete development application. These technical reference materials are for approval in principle by Council, and are subject to change over time.

This Technical Reference Manual includes:

All properties throughout Vaughan are visited by a group of dedicated community volunteers who evaluate properties. This year, properties can receive one of 850 signs based on the following criteria:
Overall aesthetic of the property is visually appealing

Protecting Vaughan's trees

Preserving and protecting healthy trees will help the City of Vaughan achieve its commitment to maintain and enhance the urban forest and the environment. Considering tree protection in the initial stages of planning will result in the enhanced protection of trees and where trees are removed provide for a clear replacement strategy.

Our primary role is to improve the quality and experience of life in the city through:

• architectural design excellence

• public art

• public space

• streets

• cycling, walking and transit

• wayfinding

• heritage properties and cultural landscapes

The City of Vaughan maintains planters and hanging baskets throughout the city on a seasonal basis.