Ken Greenberg - Toronto Reborn: Design Successes and Challenges

Copyright Ken Greenberg, 2019

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Cover image: Sophie Paas-Lang
Printer: Marquis

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Title: Toronto reborn : design successes and challenges / Ken Greenberg ; foreword by David Crombie ; afterword by Zahra Ebrahim.

Names: Greenberg, Ken, author. | Crombie, David, 1936- writer of foreword. | Ebrahim, Zahra, writer of afterword.

Description: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: Canadiana (print) 20190053240 | Canadiana (ebook) 20190053291 | ISBN 9781459743076 (softcover) | ISBN 9781459743083 (PDF) | ISBN 9781459743090 (EPUB)

Subjects: LCSH: City planningOntarioTorontoHistory. | LCSH: Toronto (Ont.)Buildings, structures, etc. | LCSH: Land useOntarioToronto. | LCSH: Urban renewalOntarioToronto History. | LCSH: Cities and townsGrowth.
Classification: LCC HT169.C22 T584 2019 | DDC 307.1/1609713541dc23

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For my grandchildren, Martin, Isaac, Hana, and Sara, and for all the children who will inherit this extraordinary city

The best plans are those that liberate other peoples plans.

Jane Jacobs

As we navigate the complex heterogeneous city, we experience the indissoluble layering of different times and places and the simultaneous juxtaposition of elements from disparate worlds. Linear chronology and spatial separation are fractured. There is no clear before and after or here and there. The fusion and contrast of different elements underlines the uniqueness of each moment, overcoming preconceived dichotomies and incompatibilities. The combination of coincidences bears witness to ever-evolving life.

Adapted from Meret Meyer, Total Art and the Notion of Modernism in the Work of Chagall

DOWNTOWN

1. St. Lawrence Historic District

2. Wellington Place

3. Regent Park

4. Queens Quay

5. Bentway

6. Leslie Street Spit

7. Lower Don River

8. John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design, University of Toronto

9. Ryerson University

10. Quayside

11. Corktown Common

12. Trillium Park

13. Berczy Park

14. Sugar Beach

15. Sherbourne Common

16. George Brown College

17. Ontario Place/Exhibition Place

18. Allan Gardens

19. Nicholson Lane

20. Stackt

21. King Street Pilot

SUBURBAN CONTEXT

a. Mississauga City Centre

b. York University

c. Thorncliffe Park

d. North York City Centre

e. St. Clair and Old Weston Road

f. Main and Danforth

g. Eglinton Avenue plazaPOPS

h. Meadoway

There can be little doubt that Toronto is going through an extraordinary, perhaps even revolutionary, time and experiencing profound change. The city is in the midst of a long period of massive growth. The population of Toronto is increasing at a rapid pace, and with the astonishing development of a huge number of condominiums and other forms of housing, the city is becoming denser and more crowded. While these changes have helped to make the city richer, economically and culturally, they have also put stresses on Torontos infrastructure, physical and social.

Along with the growth and changes in the citys population, there has been a dramatic shift in the working world in Toronto. The old industrial backbone of the citys economy is largely gone. Technological innovation has ushered in a mesmerizing digital universe and a new age of artificial intelligence and the jobs that go with them. A greatly expanded service economy is also part of this mix. The changing nature of work, accompanied by growing economic inequality, is placing new demands on the citys shared assets and commitment to fairness and opportunity.

Globalization of markets continues, while the great challenge of climate change re-enforces the rise of a greener economy. In line with this, Toronto has, over the past half century, had a sea change in its attitude toward nature and its natural heritage. While still committed to a path of progress rooted in the exploitation of nature for its raw material wealth, Torontonians have begun to embrace the notion that humans are part of nature and not separate from it. And that it follows that economic and ecological issues and policies are not mutually exclusive but are connected and interdependent.

Our understanding of community and its potential has undergone a similar renaissance. We live today in a global movement of peoples from continent to continent, from country to country and countryside to city. Nowhere has this phenomenon had greater impact than in Toronto. Waves of migration, especially since the Second World War, have recast the demographic basis of the city, requiring Torontonians to broaden their comprehension of human diversity and search for new ways to widen the circles of social inclusion.

These historic challenges to the citys economy, ecology, and sense of community, and its responses to them, are reshaping the idea of Toronto and its place in the world. While change is never easy, for Toronto it has arguably been its lifeblood, the secret sauce if you will, forging our own unique strengths and character.