Toronto's suburbs have often been dismissed as bland and banal. A closer look, however, reveals a diverse, complex landscape whose rapid changes have profound implications for the metropolis as a whole.
"In contrast to the central city—a bastion of progressive urbanism which, under the intellectual and moral guidance of Jane Jacobs, avoided the meat ax of modern postwar urban renewal," write geographers Jean-Paul Addie and Rob Fiedler, "Toronto’s suburbs have tended to be dismissed in pejorative terms as gray, flat sprawl."
This view drastically oversimplifies life outside of the downtown core, however. From the creation of dense satellite downtowns to shifting immigrant settlement patterns, dramatic changes are transforming the city's suburbs and leading to new questions about their relationship to Toronto as a whole.
The authors present six case studies of suburban sites that illustrate how some of these issues are playing out.
FULL STORY: On the (cutting) edge of the global city
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Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Appalachian Highlands Housing Partners
Gallatin County Department of Planning & Community Development
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
Mpact (founded as Rail~Volution)
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
City of Portland
City of Laramie