With Temporary Parklets, Toronto Plays Long Game in Taking Back City's Streets

With the installation of new parklets along Church Street in Toronto's Gay Village, the city is embracing a rethink of how its public spaces are used. While the elimination of parking spots may be heresy to many, Christopher Hume welcomes the change.

1 minute read

July 23, 2013, 9:00 AM PDT

By Jonathan Nettler @nettsj


"Street by street, lane by lane, curb by curb, the war to take back the city is now being waged," says Hume. "The odds are against those who would depose the mighty automobile, but time is on their side. Whether they’re on foot, a bike or sitting around eating and drinking, people now expect to be able to share the roads."

"The program is radical, perhaps revolutionary," he continues. "It suggests that taking away precious parking spots for other, non-vehicular, purposes is an appropriate use of public space." 

"The Church St. parklets might not change Toronto; but they will alter our experience of it. They will provide space to spread out and survey the scene. They will allow pedestrians to move off the narrow concrete strips that line our roads, sidewalks, where they have been consigned since time immemorial."

Monday, July 22, 2013 in Fast Company Co.Exist

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Use Code 25for25 at checkout for 25% off an annual plan!

Redlining map of Oakland and Berkeley.

Rethinking Redlining

For decades we have blamed 100-year-old maps for the patterns of spatial racial inequity that persist in American cities today. An esteemed researcher says: we’ve got it all wrong.

May 15, 2025 - Alan Mallach

Interior of Place Versailles mall in Montreal, Canada.

Montreal Mall to Become 6,000 Housing Units

Place Versailles will be transformed into a mixed-use complex over the next 25 years.

May 22, 2025 - CBC

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

May 21, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Flat modern glass office tower with "County of Santa Clara" sign.

Santa Clara County Dedicates Over $28M to Affordable Housing

The county is funding over 600 new affordable housing units via revenue from a 2016 bond measure.

May 23 - San Francisco Chronicle

Aerial view of dense urban center with lines indicating smart city concept.

Why a Failed ‘Smart City’ Is Still Relevant

A Google-backed proposal to turn an underused section of Toronto waterfront into a tech hub holds relevant lessons about privacy and data.

May 23 - Governing

Pale yellow Sears kit house with red tile roof in Sylva, North Carolina.

When Sears Pioneered Modular Housing

Kit homes sold in catalogs like Sears and Montgomery Ward made homeownership affordable for midcentury Americans.

May 23 - The Daily Yonder