Toronto the Pugly... The renamed "Pugly" awards - now the Pug Awards - continue in their third year. Take a few minutes to visit their site and vote on the best and worst of Toronto architecture. I don't agree with the choice of the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts as a candidate in their ugly category but some of the other selections are truly, notably bad.

Jack Diamond, architect of the Four Seasons Centre, offers up a compelling Op-Ed (subsription only) in today's Globe and Mail. Making the case of increased densification of our urban centres, Diamond says urban sprawl is our "Inconvenient Truth." Why? It turns out that the economics of our cancer-like suburban growth don't make sense. It costs municipalities $1.40 in servicing for every dollar generated in tax revenue - not to mention the permanent destruction of fertile farm land. Guess who pays the difference. That's right. Those of use who live in the city centre where our infrastructure costs have long since been paid off.

Ever wonder why the flat rate for water on your tiny semi-detached in downtown is the same as that 1/2 acre monster with a pool in North York? Well, someone has to pay for all that waste.

Diamond goes on to explain why Vancouver is leading the way in Canada's urban densification. The benefits are significant: population goes up, transit rider-ship goes up, bike and pedestrian trips go up, car use goes down. Now that is sustainable. Turns out that Vancouver is almost reaching its Kyoto targets too. Toronto, are you listening?

Sustainability can be achieved, and that is a truth that is not inconvenient.

One of the quantitative tools urban designers use to understand cities is the seemingly simple - perhaps even obvious - street section. Describing a street this way removes everything but the primal elements: things like width, heigth, sun angles, and tree lines. Sections answer the question why, for example, is the experience of walking down University Avenue in Toronto so different than walking down Fifth Avenue in New York? When we strip away materiality and glitter in a street section the skeleton of the city is laid bare.

Not surprisingly, there is a website dedicated to showing sections of the world's great streets. Take a look at Steet Sections. Anyone want to contribute sections from our city?

When people talk about reinventing the city they usually are reacting to the worst modern cities have to offer: cars, pollution, and congestion. Rarely do they mean design. Most are happy with traditional housing types and hermetically sealed office buildings. There are a lot of reasons for this but we suggest it is due to lack of choices. People generally do not understand architecture.

WIll Alsop (you know, the architect who designed the Sharp Centre for Design) creates city master plans that reinvent the city. Read more about the story at the Coolhunter.