Burnaby is one of Metro Vancouver’s most-dynamic cities. But that can be hard to see, because Burnaby doesn’t really have a downtown core. Unless you know the city well, it can be tough to figure out where things to do are happening. Which might help explain why Burnaby’s Metrotown is the third-busiest shopping centre in Canada. If you’re not sure where the kids are hanging these days, head to the mall.

While it’s likely going to take a while, that’s about to begin to change.

Today (October 28), Burnaby city council is expected to approve a long-term plan for the development of a centralized downtown core. The idea described in proposal documents is to change bylaws and work with private partners to transform the area where Metrotown stands today⁠—a large mall immediately surrounded by a whole bunch of parking lots and not a lot else—into a vibrant and densely-populated mix of residential and commercial low-rise complexes and towers augmented by parks and other public amenities. Walkability will be key, city officials have said.

According to Burnaby Now, city director of planning and building Ed Kozak has said the idea is to turn the 46-acre property “inside out”, bisecting existing large structures with new streets that will host high-rise buildings with shops and restaurants facing out at street level.

That report notes that Concord Pacific has already submitted a proposal to construct six 35-to-65 storey residential towers on adjacent properties and that Ivanhoe Cambridge has also said it intends to build large residential buildings there.

Ivanhoe’s vice president of development and retail, Graeme Silvera, told Burnaby Now that residents will not notice a lot changing over the next decade, but that major developments will likely begin to pop up in the early 2030s.

Kozak recently told the Globe and Mail that the plan for a new downtown Burnaby will come with city council taking a more hands-on approach with large developments, insisting they come with affordable housing and benefits for the wider public.

“We need to be more firm and more visionary with respect to public open space here,” said Burnaby’s relatively new director of planning and building, he said.