New Report Highlights Need To Curb Sprawl

The new government of Ontario has inherited a framework of land-use planning, infrastructure and tax policies that encourage, facilitate and subsidize urban sprawl. If it is to avoid finding itself again in the situation of being unable to protect ecologically important areas like the Oak Ridges Moraine from urban development, then the government needs to move quickly to set a fundamentally new direction for provincial policy. Those are the conclusions of a major new study on controlling urban sprawl in Ontario released by the Pembina Institute entitled "Building Sustainable Urban Communities in Ontario: Overcoming the Barriers". Flowing from a detailed analysis of current provincial laws, regulations and policies, the study highlights priority action areas for the new government to curb urban sprawl and promote environmentally, socially and economically sustainable communities in Ontario.