Toronto's Waterfront
The City of Toronto is undergoing a period of intense growth and redevelopment, with a great deal of energy focusing on the renewal of it's waterfront.
Major redevelopment areas within and adjacent to Toronto's Central Waterfront comprise almost 800 hectares (2000 acres) of land, and include the Railway Lands, Exhibition Place in the western section, and the West Don Lands, East Bayfront, and Port Lands to the east. The City's Central Waterfront Secondary Plan anticipates over 40,000 new housing units for over 68,000 people in the Central Waterfront alone.
One of the four core principles that will inform this exciting undertaking is "building a network of spectacular waterfront parks and public spaces", identified in Making Waves, the Secondary Plan for the Central Waterfront Plan. This principle recognizes the significance of the public realm in transforming the Central Waterfront into a destination for international tourism, national celebration and local enjoyment. The Plan promotes the "remaking of the Central Waterfront as a special place imbued with spectacular waterfront parks and plazas and inviting natural settings that please the eye and capture the spirit".
While the completion of the Harbourfront parks and open space system is a separate initiative, the principles that guide this work are in keeping with the Central Waterfront Secondary Plan, and the objectives of the Waterfront Toronto (formerly Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corporation), the organization mandated to oversee the waterfront's implementation.
