Dr. Moos’ recently shared an interesting opinion piece via The Conversation sharing his reaction to Doug Ford’s proposed 401 tunnel, for Dr. Moos’ full opinion please visit the following link.
Doug Ford recently vowed to build a 50-kilometre traffic tunnel below the 401 to cut traffic and support economic growth. In a recent opinion piece shared via the Conversation, Dr. Markus Moos expressed his views on this issue by arguing that increased focus on car-centric urban planning will not only not fix traffic but will further contribute to air pollution and exacerbate urban sprawl, leading to an overall decrease in Ontario’s quality of life.
In his article, Dr. Moos connects Ford’s current urban planning model to those proposed and implemented between the 1950s and 70s. Mass production of automobiles during this time led to increased car-centric urban planning but also investments in social infrastructure (community centres, schools, transit infrastructure and affordable housing). The latter simply aren’t present in Premier Ford’s strategy. Dr. Moos argues that Ford's policies of auto dependence would likely lead to a more congested and polluted future, with an increased loss of agricultural and environmentally significant lands.
The School of Planning's Dr. Markus Moos