In what proved to be a productive exercise, members of the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) held a workshop on balancing green space and development Wednesday evening.

The event, held before 40 to 50 people at the Westmark Whitehorse, included a presentation from CMHC officials, comments from City planners and Mayor Ernie Bourassa and input from members of the public.

The CMHC is Canada's national housing agency. It was established as a government-owned corporation in 1946 to address Canada's post-war housing shortage.

The agency provides mortgage loan insurance, housing policy and programs and housing research.

Addressing members of the Whitehorse public, CMHC senior research consultant Nadia Frantellizzi spoke of the need for municipal officials to consult their citizens; for citizens and city planners to work together on building desirable communities; and for both sides to recognize one another's development concerns and come to a compromise.

Compromise, she added, could occur when: all stakeholders were involved in the planning process; all stakeholders had access to meaningful information; and when all stakeholders engaged in meaningful dialogue which was then used to assist in making planning decisions.

'We all have to decide what our community will look like,' she said.

'Projects or plans that move forward without community participation have proven unsuccessful.'

Ways of engaging in meaningful discussion that results in useable information in building sustainable communities, she added, include: having all stakeholders sit down and come up with a vision of what they want their community to look like; having residents involved in, and understand, the planning process; and a willingness for stakeholders to compromise.

Frantellizzi said while there is not 'cookie cutter' plan that can be used in every community, there are a few concepts which have proved successful in other Canadian areas in terms of building sustainable communities that address the needs of all citizens.

'Sustainable development meets the needs of the present without compromising future generations,' she said.

She said ingredients to successful sustainable communities included: minimizing environmental impacts by having mixed-use, high-density housing; having neighbourhood cores close to green areas; building new houses next to, or close to existing development to avoid urban sprawl; and linking new housing projects to existing infrastructure to maximize fiscal responsibility.

Frantellizzi said while she's not a fan of the term NIMBY (Not In My Backyard), she did hear similar concerns with development from across the nation.

She said common concerns over development included traffic anxieties, concerns with green space, air and water quality and pollution; and noise problems.

Following Frantellizzi's hour-long presentation, the audience asked questions and commented on the state of development in the city.

Bourassa said the city should be looking at least 50 years ahead when it comes to planning.