Still Planning to Be Different? Toronto at the Turn of the Millennium

Toronto is the largest and most populous city in Canada. The metropolis on Lake Ontario has a land area of 622 square kilometres and a population of 2.4 million. After the city was consolidated from previously seven municipalities in 1998, City Council has endorsed the preparation of a new Official Plan. In this paper, we trace the traditions and current challenges of planning reform in Toronto in light of the current process of official plan review which, in the words of the City’s planners “is required to deal with global economic competition, new municipal responsibilities, and the changing social fabric.” We will begin with a few conceptual and theoretical considerations on planning in Toronto at the millennium, provide a short historical overview of postwar planning in this city, and end with a section on current planning issues, based on analysis of planning documents, newspaper and other public accounts, as well as a small number of conversations with leading local planners and politicians.

Publication Date: 
2000