During a round table discussion between four of Toronto's most prominent architects conclude that the city's planning, deemed dysfunctional by one, falls short.
"According to Babak Eslahjou, of Core Architects, the planning process 'pits neighbourhoods against developers.' And once the subject of height is raised, he argued, backs go up and civility flies out the door. We should be talking about density, he insisted, not height.
David Pontarini of Hariri Pontarini Architects pointed out that because the planning regime is so dysfunctional, fully half his firm's projects end up at the Ontario Municipal Board, the quasi-judicial tribunal that has final say on development in the province. He would prefer a design review process, like that of Vancouver.
But as Roland Rom Colthoff of Raw Design pointed out: 'The approval process is democratic.' As he also noted, however, democracy isn't particularly effective; it's just better than any other system."
Read the full story: Current planning system a 'messy democracy'
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Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
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Boston is hard to build housing in: its chief of planning wants to keep it that way
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California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
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City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello