If you ask developer and HIP Developments president Scott Higgins the reason he’s eager to see his company build and foster more communities in Ontario, his answer is simple:
It’s all about the joy of connection.
“For us, the key is to engineer those special touches that make a community stand out,” Higgins said.
A big factor in getting people – and cities – to rethink how neighbourhoods are built was the interruption and isolation caused by the pandemic.
“COVID was like detachment and isolation on steroids,” Higgins said. “And now as cities get bigger, people aren't participating in public spaces in the same way as they were before.”
The work HIP Developments focusses on leans towards fostering the human connection. Neighbourhoods – with all their coincidental and everyday interactions between people – can build a healthier sense of community, belonging and safety.
That’s why you’ll see an emphasis on connection, fun and comfort in HIP’s projects.
“Our cities actually have to start to think about the infrastructure of how people live in the city, in terms of physical connection with each other,” Higgins said.
An example:
HIP Developments was the driving force behind the Gaslight District in Cambridge, one of Waterloo Region’s largest public spaces.
The district features a permanent stage, the biggest outdoor video screen “this side of just about anywhere,” its website says, and a 12-month calendar full of free community events.
“When we took on the Gaslight District project, we focused most heavily not on commercial space or on condominiums, but on public realm placemaking and programming in that public realm.”
“We also focussed on making it as free as we possibly can all the time.”
Free is a concept that seems to be a relic of the past, Higgins said, especially when it comes to the public space, but it’s a notion that HIP – right from the concept stage –weaves into its projects.
“If you think about the world being very expensive, and there being a paywall in front of everyone, there's that level of exclusivity and detachment that comes with that,” he said.
“If we’re all isolated at home, or isolated on social media, you’re not encouraged to engage with your space, become a part of the community.”
“It falls on us as developers to engineer these special touches back into the neighbourhood now, as the world seems to be engineering them out.”
So far, Higgins’ ideas are gaining traction with residents.
HIP projects like The Gaslight District and Circa 1877 Condos historically sell out quickly but most important they push the boundaries of how we live together and not just where or in what.
It shows that people are buying into Higgins’ idea of the value of human connection.
The Big Picture of Community Engagement
While focussing on JOY and PLAY may not be what major real estate developers are focussed on right now as the country deals with a major housing crunch, Higgins said he’s not the first to bring the idea of joy to the forefront of the conversation.
Communities in Europe have been placing public spaces at the centre of their city planning for centuries, resulting in some of those countries consistently ranking on the top lists of the happiest countries to live.
Even simple, day-to-day interactions – like passing your neighbours on the street while stepping out for groceries – can have a positive impact on a community’s health.
“Building communities that foster that connection – to your neighbourhood, your family, the sphere around you – leads to better mental health, leads to lower healthcare costs, higher economic development,” Higgins says.
“It also leads to higher talent retention and attraction which lead to more creativity and ideas.”
Some of their recent projects exemplify the idea.
STRATA CONDOS, a 25-storey tower in the heart of Uptown Waterloo, has some of the largest balconies in Canada on almost every suite plus a communal half acre treed terrace so you don’t have to sacrifice outdoor living in the heart of the City.
While the Flats at Rainbow Lake connect residents with a stunning private conservation area, which means they can live a little closer to nature while being in close proximity to all that the city of Kitchener has to offer.
But why joy?
“It’s what we call the infrastructure of the human spirit,” Higgins said. “We use that language because cities and city planners understand what infrastructure means, like, we need a road here, or we need a pipe there.”
“But what are they doing to augment the infrastructure of the human spirit?”
Functional infrastructure is critical, of course, and cities wouldn’t survive unless that foundation – safe roads, clean water – was solid. But in order to thrive, Higgins said, he’s helping put other human needs front and centre.
“Joy should be the number one priority of city building and planning,” Higgins said. “Why else are we here?”
You can learn more about the Joy Experiments by visiting the HIP Developments web site, or by following them on Instagram and Facebook.
