Major Urban Projects in Toronto

Analysis of Toronto Waterfront project
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ANALYSIS OF MAJOR URBAN PROJECT IN TORONTO
NEW TORONTO WATERFRONT PROJECT
Project history
Toronto city is located beside a large water body and was founded out of a point of intersections of transportation routes. Its location on Lake Ontario has been instrumental to the city and the country as a whole, the lake has provided an important means of transport for locals.
Toronto town was home to aborigines before the coming of Europeans who used it as the short cut from the lower to upper great lakes. Humber River located on the south end part of the passage. They built a modern trading post in 1750s, Fort Roulle on Ontario shoreline east of Humber.
The birth of urban Toronto is traced through construction of Fort York in 1793 by the British to help counter possible threats from the Americans at the time after their revolution.
Fig 1: Historical photos of Toronto’s waterfront.
Starting with maps of the area from 1668.
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Map, 1680
Much of the trade along the lake was by boat with adjacent factories to the waterfront making good business sense. The lack of available land along the waterfront however limited the growth of shipping, industrial and railway infrastructure in 1940s.
This prompted a massive campaign of lake filling in 1950s to expand the shore land south to the esplanade and the was extended farther south for hundred years that followed into 1950s when the current shoreline was achieved and this left original shoreline north of today’s rail corridor.
The downtown core of Toronto became undesirable for residential due to industry concentration but major roads were built to enable people to commute as jobs were still in this downtown industrial area. Highways were built around the city, with Gardiner expressway cutting the people off from the lake.
The urban revolution of 1970s led to the rediscovery of waterfronts including Toronto waterfronts to catapult them onto world stage. The newly developed waterfronts attracted more residents, more employers, more jobs and more visitors.
Project chronology
In July 1999, a report dubbed “unlocking Toronto port lands” was released by urban development services which provided an assessment of the challenges and opportunities for the land at the port and stated also reiterated the need to revitalize the area.
Later on in November 1999 prime minister of Canada commissioned the formation of a task force to develop a business plan and make necessary recommendations for developing the new waterfront in a bid to host 2008 summer Olympics. The same day Mayor Lastman released the vision document, our Toronto waterfront.
August 28, 2000, city council approved the staff report Our Toronto Waterfront containing the city’s preliminary analysis of the task force report and advises the implementation strategy for the town revitalization.
The same year in October, city council placed an interim control by laws on key lands to protect them for future use. Prime minister and the mayor stressed their commitment to kick start the $ 5 billion waterfront project.
February 2001 federal government and city council releases a $ 1.5 billion for in technical studies this being part of their commitment to the project. In march same year transport and finance minister pledge approximately 300 billion dollars for priority public projects.
Four priority waterfront projects were announced in the year 2001 which are: extending front street from Bathurst to Dufferin street, conducting phase one environmental clean up of the port lands, expanding passenger corridors at union station and finally undertaking environmental assessment for the restoration of the mouth of the Don River.
Approval of the governance structure by the city council of Toronto paved the formation of Toronto waterfront Revitalization Corporation in May 2001. This corporation was formed to steer the waterfront renewal initiative of behalf of three level of government
The vision was set out as the wave of the future which was bold and ambitious for the project, with task force and momentum reports indicating that vision could work and the three level of government demonstrating their willingness to make it work.
Waterfront neighborhoods of Harbourfront and Bathurst/Strachan were well developed yet the vast land located strategically in the Toronto’s central waterfront which is Canada’s economic and social engine remained vacant and underused.
The opportunity to reengineer the renewal and position Toronto for urban completion was found in this idle adjacent land, of which nearly 70% was in public hands of Toronto Port Lands Company, City of Toronto, Province of Ontario, Toronto Port Authority, Federal Government and Waterfront Toronto.
The proposed part 2 plan for central waterfront was discussed by the public and approved by the city council and will form the basis for guiding change in central waterfront. The city will work with Toronto Waterfront Corporation, stakeholders and the public to formulate policies for the project.
The four core principles around which plan is organized will ensure that development over the years does not deviate from the original vision of the project. For every principle the plan sets out big moves that will signal deliberate change in direction and sets out policy framework within which big moves will happen.
Major actors of the project
The three level of government are major actors in this project which are central government, federal government and city council of Toronto.
City Council government was tasked with approval of the project. They also funded project work since they stand to benefit from the work on completion. The city council was also tasked to work with waterfront Toronto to accelerate timelines and develop business plans for the port lands.
It was the coordinating body for all agencies and stakeholders representing city’s interests like sresidents and land owners, (Staff report, 2011). The Government of Canada has a big stake as it provides majority funding for the project. The prime minister set the ground by commissioning the formation of a task force to develop the business plan for the development of waterfront. The general public being the people who stand to benefit and or suffer from the project are major players. They are to be consulted to make their contributions.
Project development raises big environmental concerns for the environmental activists. Their constant input is necessary to help reduce environmental risks associated with the setting up of this project. Developing the best waterfront has a number of environmental challenges in port lands such as environmental contamination, the risk of flooding, water and wastewater infrastructure development, and lack of utilities hence the need to incorporate environmental models and tools to address these challenges in the heart of downtown of Toronto (Lindsey, 2004).
Reasons for the project
Olympics: The prime minister of Canada commissioned the formation of a task force in 1999 to develop a business plan and make necessary recommendations for developing the waterfront in a bid to host 2008 summer Olympics.
Economic development: The task force chaired by Robert Fung reported that revitalization of waterfront was necessary and its almost unprecedented development opportunity that will have a huge positive impact on the city of Toronto, the region and the...