What does Toronto’s rapid growth into a global capital mean for its citizens, the province and the planet?
With the world rapidly urbanizing, people, capital and opportunity are flowing into a handful of cities at an incredible rate. This new dynamic has created new opportunities, but also political polarization, economic inequality, frustration and confusion on a number of levels for many people.
We’ve asked three urban planning thought leaders to explore these questions from a variety of angles including transportation, housing and politics.
The Experts
The Academic
Brian Doucet is an associate professor, at Waterloo’s School of Planning and a Canada Research Chair in Cities.
The Developer
Caitlin Willcocks is the director of development at Diamond Corp., a Toronto real estate development company with multiple on-going projects including “The Well” at Front and Spadina.
The Community Advocate
Sam Nabi is a co-founder of Hold the Line, a non-profit dedicated to connecting community builders with a shared goal to make the places we live more sustainable. He is also a co-owner of Full Circle Foods, downtown Kitchener's organic grocery, natural and bulk food store.
Transit
Every year it gets harder to get into Toronto’s core by car. What led to this? What harm is it causing to those in and outside the city? What’s stopping us from implementing better transit options?
Housing
Ontario has an uneven housing market; punctuated by prohibitively expensive in urban cores. What caused this and what are some potential market and non-market solutions?
Economy
According to a recent study, 98 per cent of all new jobs created in Ontario are created in two markets — the GTA and Ottawa. Why did this happen and what does this mean for Ontario’s small and medium-sized cities?
Demographics
Of all of the demographics leaving Toronto, the largest share are children? What are the challenges and opportunities of cities becoming increasing segregated by age.
Politics
The political dynamic in Ontario is largely progressive urban cores vs. conservative suburbs and exurbs. What’s the political future of a province where an increasingly smaller number of rural citizens decide policy for urban cores?
Brian Doucet
