Urban Planning: Greater Toronto Area (GTA) as a Case Study
BY NATALIE DIONE ALEXANDER, PQS, LEED-AP, ASSOCRICS Paper presented at the PAQS 2014 Congress in Hong Kong. u KEY WORDS: decision-making, intensification, sustainable, urbanisation. u ABSTRACT The city of Toronto has embraced the consistency of intense growth of its highrise developments, which, continues to aid in the urbanization of the city as a whole. The government’s plan continues to be the focus of intensification as a means of both economic growth and sustainable living. Though Urban Planning remains a very broad topic of discussion that encompasses the use of land, public transit system, creating homes, creating jobs, policy recommendations, technical and political aspects, this paper will seek to identify the key factor(s) that must be considered in the umbrella of urbanization, i.e. what is the main factor that will provide a clear framework that can be identified as the backbone for any city undergoing and or expected to undergo intensification. The methods employed within this research includes a comprehensive examination from both the academic and practical elements of the industry, and comparing their common findings and implementation strategies, in order to understand what is the key factor(s) that need most consideration in the overall decision-making when intensification is such a major element of a city’s urbanization. u IDENTIFYING A CITY UNDERGOING INTENSIFICATION Toronto is Canada’s most popular city and the heart of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). With a 2011 Census population at
Toronto city councillors explains that the current growth of Toronto’s urbanisation is being developed according to what’s known as ‘Toronto’s Official Plan’ which came into force in June 2006, and has become the road map for the City’s plans for development over a period of 20 years. Its central geographic theme was directed at growth to the appropriate areas and away from the City’s stable residential neighbourhoods and green spaces. According to the city of Toronto’s Official Plan, there is a targeted 25% of the City’s land allocated for new developments, while the remaining 75% expected to be protected from significant intensification. According to the City of Toronto, the locations within that 25% allocation that have been recognised as being “most appropriate for growth” are those identified in the Official Plan’s Urban Structure Map as Avenues, Centres, the
2.6 million people, Toronto remains the focal point of development and growth, as it sits at North America’s fifth-most popular city. The 2013 CIBC Metropolitan Economic Activity Index states that, “as of the third quarter of 2012, Toronto was ranked the fastest growing city within the 27 census metropolitan areas in Canada”. For the past decade, Toronto has experienced a surge of both residential and non-residential growth, and the city shows no signs of slowing down in its intensification, as it continues to lead all North American municipalities in the number of high-rise buildings currently under construction (Figure 1). On August 30, 2013, the City of Toronto’s building department had on record a total number of highrise buildings under construction, (based on the total amount of building permits issued) at 184, with over 150 erected cranes standing. FIGURE 1
High Rise Buildings Under Construction North American Cities (Emporis)
200 180 160
184
151
140 120 100
91 92
88 88
80 40 21
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Source: www.emporis.com Updated August 30, 2013
20 | CONSTRUCTION ECONOMIST | www.ciqs.org | Summer 2014
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