Parks and Green Spaces Master Plan 2025–2035 for Rouyn-Noranda

Strategies
Public Participation
Sports, Leisure and Recreational Tourism
Geomatics and Cartography

Developing spaces rooted in Rouyn-Noranda’s identity to meet community aspirations

Sustainable actions

Health and well-being

Analysis of local outdoor recreation, considering pedestrian access to parks and green spaces

Optimization of sports and recreational facilities to encourage regular physical activity

Justice, equity, diversity and inclusiveness

Definition of service levels to ensure territorial equity in investments

Participatory approach

Greening and biodiversity

Greening in central areas, notably to mitigate urban heat island effects

Resilience and adaptation to climate change

Sustainable and resilient design

Improvement of winter comfort in both urbanized and rural areas

Economic vitality

Shared use of equipment and facilities

Control of operating and maintenance costs

The City of Rouyn-Noranda decided to establish a Master Plan for parks, recreational and sports facilities and spaces. The city’s large size presents a major challenge for local and regional planning. As a City-RCM resulting from the merger of former municipalities, Rouyn-Noranda extends over a vast area of more than 6,000 km². The distance separating the multiple village centres creates substantial challenges in terms of asset preservation, municipal intervention capacity, and equity in the distribution of public spaces dedicated to sports and recreation.

The objective of this plan was to guide the strategic deployment of a network of parks and green spaces, meeting community needs while taking into account the constraints and challenges specific to the municipality and its sociodemographic context. Beyond developing its network and improving the range of sports and recreational facilities available, this planning tool aims to mobilize citizens and local organizations around an inspiring vision for all of Rouyn-Noranda.

The Master Plan structures investment decisions and ensures a coherent and equitable distribution of public spaces throughout the municipality. The process also provided the City with an opportunity to assess the current situation and define an intervention vision for the next ten years, taking into account regional realities and municipal capacities.